MLB season opener

Bomb threat before baseball spectacle in Seoul

Major search operation in and around the Gocheok Sky Dome(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

A bomb threat at the season opener of the American baseball league MLB in South Korea has triggered a police search operation. Around 30 members of a task force and a further 120 officers searched the Gocheok Sky Dome baseball stadium in Seoul, where the game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers from Major League Baseball was to take place on Wednesday evening (local time), reported the national news agency Yonhap and South Korean broadcasters.

However, the initial assessment was that there was no danger. It was not reported that the game had been canceled. According to reports, the threat was previously contained in an e-mail message written in English to the South Korean Consulate General in Vancouver, Canada. It announced that a bomb would explode during the match at the stadium in Seoul.

The threat was directed in particular at Japanese baseball player Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and others, it was said. The writer claimed to be a Japanese lawyer. According to Yonhap, police suspect it may be the same person who sent a series of e-mail and fax threats from Japan last year. Investigators tried to trace the e-mail.

Shohei Ohtani(Bild: APA/AFP/Jung Yeon-je)

Baseball a big seller in South Korea
Wednesday's scheduled match is the first regular season MLB game in South Korea. The two teams will meet in two games on Wednesday and Thursday as part of the "Seoul Series". The opening game was sold out in just eight minutes, reported "The Korea Times". Baseball is very popular in the East Asian country.