Doosan Bears’ Gwak Been wins the 13th BNK Busan Bank Choi Dong-won Award

[Financial News] BNK Busan Bank said it held the awards ceremony for the 13th BNK Busan Bank Choi Dong-won Award at Ocean Hall at its headquarters on the afternoon of the 11th.
Busan Bank has sponsored the Choi Dong-won Award since 2014, now in its 13th year, to honor the achievements and spirit of the late Choi Dong-won, a legend of Korean baseball.
The award is presented each year to a pitcher who has excelled in domestic professional baseball. Busan Bank has helped carry on the significance of the Choi Dong-won Award through its continued sponsorship since the award was first established. Cumulative sponsorship through this year totals 530 million won.
At the ceremony, Doosan Bears pitcher Gwak Been was named the recipient of the 13th BNK Busan Bank Choi Dong-won Award and received 20 million won in prize money and a commemorative plaque.
Gwak Been was named the recipient after receiving first-place votes from six of the seven selection committee members at a meeting held on the 15th of last month. He appeared in 27 regular-season games this year, recording 11 wins and 7 losses, a 2.24 ERA and 197 strikeouts, and ranked first in both ERA and strikeouts. He also played a key role as a pitcher for the national team at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, helping Korean baseball win its fifth consecutive Asian Games title.
The ceremony also included presentations of the Daesun High School Choi Dong-won Award and the Baeksong Holdings Choi Dong-won Indomitable Hero Award, alongside the BNK Busan Bank Choi Dong-won Award. A fan-signing session with professional baseball players was also held before the ceremony, giving baseball fans a memorable opportunity to spend time with them.
[email protected] Kwon Byeong-seok Reporter