SEOUL, South Korea (Yonhap) By Jang Hyun-koo (Yonhap) = MLB officials will inspect facilities in South Korea ahead of next year’s official opening game of the Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season, which will be held in Seoul for the first time.According to sources familiar with baseball and MLB affairs on Aug. 31, about 10 officials from the MLB office will be in Seoul for three days on Aug. 1 to prepare for next year’s two-game MLB Seoul Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.The MLB office officially announced on March 13 that the Dodgers and Padres will play the regular-season opener in Seoul on March 20-21, 2024.It will be the first official MLB game to be played in South Korea.The MLB office did not disclose the stadium, but it is likely that the Seoul Series will be played at Gocheok Sky Dome, the only indoor dome in Korea, instead of Jamsil Stadium due to the cold weather in March.MLB officials are expected to closely inspect the clubhouse and bullpen facilities at the Gocheok Sky Dome, as well as the outfield fence billboards and pitch clock installation points.MLB will also coordinate with the KBO to schedule a practice game with a Korean professional 스포츠토토존 baseball team so that the major leaguers can get a feel for the game while adjusting to jet lag before the regular season begins.As the MLB Seoul Series will be held during the 2024 Baseball World Series, it is necessary to coordinate the schedule with the KBO in advance.The KBO Secretariat will also use the MLB Opening Day as an opportunity to actively seek input on introducing the advanced system.The KBO announced the “KBO League-Team Korea Level Up Project,” which aims to strengthen the international competitiveness of the league and the Korean National Baseball Team, and announced that the pitch clock, extra innings, defensive shift restrictions, and a minimum of three batters faced by a pitcher will be introduced to the KBO in 2024 and beyond.The automated ball-and-strike judgment system (robot umpires), which the MLB office is currently testing in the minor leagues, is also planned to appear in the KBO at the appropriate time, so there are expectations that MLB officials will transfer their operational know-how to the KBO.