"Shackles for at least 130 billion won jackpot removed": 23-year-old Kim Do-young removes 'last obstacle' blocking direct entry to MLB

[Financial News] There could be no more perfect gift for Kim Do-young, who is five days away from his 23rd birthday. Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers), who hit the game-winning RBI to secure the gold medal in the heart of Japan, has also perfectly resolved the issue of military service, which was the biggest obstacle to his entry into Major League Baseball (MLB).
The South Korean national baseball team, led by manager Ryu Ji-hyun, defeated Japan 3-1 in the final of the '2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games' held at Toyohashi Citizens Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 27th, claiming the championship. Having washed away the pain of a crushing 0-5 defeat two days earlier, Korean baseball achieved its fifth consecutive championship since the 2010 Guangzhou Games.
The biggest upheaval caused by this victory is the landscape of the KBO League and the diverging fates of the players. The KBO organized this tournament primarily with players under the age of 25, and as a result, 16 players—more than half of the final roster of 24—have reaped the valuable reward of military service benefits (inclusion as arts and sports personnel).

With the selection limit restricted to a maximum of three per team to ensure fairness, the fortunes of the teams varied. KIA will receive military service exemptions for three players, including Kim Do-young, the hero of the game-winning hit, as well as Park Jae-hyun and Sung Young-tak. KT Wiz (So Hyung-jun, Oh Won-seok), Samsung Lions (Bae Chan-seung, Lee Jae-hyun), Doosan Bears (Choi Min-seok, Park Jun-soon), Lotte Giants (Choi Jun-yong, Kim Jin-wook), and SSG Landers (Jo Hyung-woo, Jung Jun-jae) will each have two players benefit. In addition, Kim Young-woo of LG Twins, Moon Hyun-bin of Hanwha Eagles, and Kim Geon-hee of Kiwoom Heroes were named among the gold medal recipients.
By far, the scouts' eyes are focused on Kim Do-young.
Inclusion as an arts and sports personnel means that one can continue their athletic career on the professional stage without interruption. It is essentially the same 'elite course' that Korean baseball icons of the past—such as Ryu Hyun-jin, Kim Kwang-hyun, Kim Ha-seong, Lee Jung-hoo, and Kim Hye-seong—followed, where they resolved their military service through the Olympics and Asian Games and went straight to the big leagues.

His market value is already skyrocketing. Kim Do-young, who won the 2024 KBO League regular season MVP, struggled with frequent hamstring injuries last year, but this season he proudly reached the 40-home run mark, proving his monstrous destructive power.
Major League teams have been keeping a close watch on Kim Do-young, the top star of the KBO League, for quite some time. Among local scouts, specific assessments are already emerging that "if he enters the posting process, a major contract worth at least $100 million (approximately 135.9 billion won) is possible."
Kim Do-young, who has freed himself from the heaviest shackles of military service, could stand on the Major League showcase stage through the posting system as early as after the end of the 2028 season.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter