Während sich die Bevölkerungskrise in Südkorea verschärft, macht sich die abgelegene Bergbaustadt Sangdong daran, neue Einwohner anzulocken, indem sie von Grund auf ein erstklassiges Baseballprogramm aufbaut.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-11-07/how-a-south-korean-town-came-back-to-life-with-high-school-baseball?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2MjUxMzEyNCwiZXhwIjoxNzYzMTE3OTI0LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNUMwNDVHUTdLWk0wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.h1FOfQBWdVZyVyP64uooHJjdgHydMplQUBlB4DJZCHA
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*Hyonhee Shin for Bloomberg News*
The late summer drive across the Korean peninsula is quiet, with hardly a car to pass as the road winds its way to the coast. The landscape along the highway is peppered with rusting diners and abandoned campsites.
But Sangdong, a town that’s been struggling since a tungsten mine closed 30 years ago, is full of activity — thanks to high school baseball.
It’s more than just a sport here, far from the bustle of Seoul three hours away. America’s pastime is also part of South Korea’s national identity. And for Sangdong, it’s a chance for survival.
Korea is undergoing a dramatic population decline, with the world’s lowest fertility rate, and the impact on Sangdong has been severe. The town’s population is down 97% from its peak half a century ago, to just 1,000 — threatening the future of its high school, where only three seniors graduated in 2022 and no freshmen enrolled the following academic year. That was until the town came up with a simple, desperate and quintessentially Korean idea: Build an elite baseball program from scratch.
[Read the full dispatch here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-11-07/how-a-south-korean-town-came-back-to-life-with-high-school-baseball?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2MjUxMzEyNCwiZXhwIjoxNzYzMTE3OTI0LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNUMwNDVHUTdLWk0wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.h1FOfQBWdVZyVyP64uooHJjdgHydMplQUBlB4DJZCHA)
That was a good read.
Thank you for the article.
It exemplifies my dreams of seeing new opportunities outside of Seoul. The people and resources are there. Just need a can-do mindset.