KBO cancels all weekend games due to heat wave, play to resume Tuesday

A record-breaking heat wave has forced Korean professional baseball into an extended summer break through this weekend.

The Korea Baseball Organization, general managers from all 10 clubs and Korea Baseball Players Association Secretary-General Jang Dong-cheol held an emergency heat-response executive committee meeting Thursday at the KBO building in Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and decided to cancel all 15 games scheduled at five ballparks nationwide from Friday through Sunday.

The KBO secretariat had already called off all games Wednesday and Thursday to protect fans and players from the extreme heat.

The cancellations bring the total number of games scrapped due to heat this season to 30.

The KBO and its clubs plan to use the weekend to strengthen heat-response measures and stadium safety protocols before resuming the regular season Tuesday. Start times will also be adjusted for the time being — weekday and weekend games alike will now begin at 7 p.m., up from 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on weekends.

However, games at the domed Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul will partly retain their existing schedule given the venue's indoor conditions. Weekday games there will start at 7 p.m., Saturday games at 6 p.m., and Sunday games may begin as early as 2 p.m. depending on broadcast arrangements.

The KBO secretariat also said it would introduce a "cooling time" — modeled on the existing cleaning-time break — during games to help prevent heat-related illness among players and spectators.