SEOUL, South Korea — Police in South Korea were investigating a bomb threat on Wednesday against baseball star Shohei Ohtani, who is in Seoul for Major League Baseball’s first regular-season games in the country.
They were alerted by the South Korean Consulate in Vancouver, which received an email written in English threatening to bomb the 18,000-seat Gocheok Sky Dome in the South Korean capital, where Ohtani’s Los Angeles Dodgers are playing the San Diego Padres.
The Dodgers’ trip to Asia has drawn legions of fans, with Ohtani the headline act.
After searching with sniffer dogs, X-ray detectors and other equipment, police said no sign of a bomb had been found and that they were providing additional security at the season opener on Wednesday, which is reportedly sold out.
Police said the threat bore similarities to previous ones that originated in Japan, and that they were tracking down the sender of the email.
The threat seemingly did little to deter fans, who traveled from other parts of South Korea, the United States and elsewhere for the two-game “Seoul Series” between the Dodgers and Padres to open the season.
“I have no worries as our country has very strict security,” Kim Myeong-seo, a 33-year-old Dodgers fan from Daegu, South Korea, told Reuters. “It was very difficult to get a ticket … I’m just so excited and want to go in as soon as possible.”
Ohtani, 29, joined the Dodgers in December after signing a 10-year, $700-million contract that was the biggest in baseball history.
The two-time American League Most Valuable Player, who has been compared to Babe Ruth, is so popular that South Korean fans have embraced him despite their country’s historic rivalry with his home country of Japan, greeting him and the Dodgers like rock stars when they arrived at Incheon International Airport outside Seoul last week.
Ohtani, who is often described in Japanese as “the perfect person,” told reporters on Saturday that he has always respected South Korean baseball players and said South Korea was “one of my favorite countries.”
But Ohtani is not the only draw: Fans are also flocking to see his teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 25, who is also from Japan and who also joined the Dodgers in December, signing a 12-year contract worth $325 million.
The Padres, meanwhile, brought Ha-Seong Kim, 28, a shortstop born and raised outside Seoul who previously played at Gocheok Sky Dome with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Kiwoom Heroes. They also feature Japanese ace Yu Darvish.
The ceremonial first pitch at the game on Wednesday was thrown by Chan Ho Park, 50, a former pitcher for the Dodgers, Padres and others who was the first Korean-born player in Major League Baseball.
“I know our players are thrilled to put their talents on display in a country so rich with baseball tradition and talent, including former Dodgers Chan Ho Park, Hee-Seop Choi and Hyun Jin Ryu,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten said in a news release announcing the Seoul games last July.
Major League Baseball sees the potential for huge market growth in Japan and South Korea, both countries with their own national teams and professional leagues as well as highly enthusiastic fans whose loud and spirited behavior at games can be a form of entertainment in itself.
Stella Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea, and Andee Capellan reported from Hong Kong.