Hwaseong City Little Baseball Team Leads U-13 World Series Championship Victory

Hwaseong Special City (Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun) invited players and coaches from Hwaseong City Little Baseball Team who competed as South Korea's U-13 national team in the "2026 Little League Intermediate World Series" and contributed to the championship victory to City Hall's central conference room on the 20th to express encouragement.

At the event, four attendees participated including Lee Il-nam, manager of Hwaseong City Little Baseball Team A (Dongtan) who served as the national team's manager, Kim Jin-su, manager of Team C (Western District) who served as a national team coach, and players Kim Jeong-am and Kim Gang-min who competed as national team players.

Mayor Jeong shared the tournament process and impressions with the players and coaches, presented a commemorative autographed baseball, and congratulated them on reaching the world's top position.

The Little League Intermediate World Series is an international tournament for players aged 13, serving as a bridge between Little League baseball and adult baseball. It was held in Livermore, California from the 2nd to the 9th.

South Korea's national team advanced to the main tournament by winning all six games in the Asia-Pacific regional preliminaries. Subsequently, the team defeated Puerto Rico 13-8 in the International Finals, and then overwhelmed the United States West representative team 11-4 in the World Series Championship Finals to claim the top position.

With this achievement, South Korea's national team returned to the top of the World Series after three years and achieved their fourth championship overall. In particular, two coaches and two players from Hwaseong City Little Baseball Team served as members of the national team, demonstrating the competitiveness of Hwaseong's youth baseball on the world stage.

Hwaseong Special City is supporting youth baseball development through Little Baseball Team A, B, and C teams and a U-16 team, enabling young players to train in a stable environment and develop their skills. Additionally, the city operates Hwaseong Dream Park, South Korea's largest Little League baseball field, providing a foundation for young players to train systematically and grow.

Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun of Hwaseong Special City stated, "I sincerely offer hearty applause to the players and coaches who reached the world's top wearing the Taegeuk mark," and added, "It is particularly meaningful that players who honed their skills in Hwaseong and the managers who guided them contributed to our national team's championship victory."