South Korea's Baseball Team Suffers Another 1-5 Rout Against Japan in APBC Final... Humiliating 13th Straight Loss in 'Pro Korea-Japan Games'

[Financial News] South Korea's national baseball team once again failed to overcome Japan in the 2026 Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) final, finishing runner-up for the third consecutive time.
South Korea, led by head coach Wonho Choi, suffered a 1-5 rout against Japan in the tournament final at TOKYO DOME in Japan on the 15th. After consecutive preliminary-round losses to Australia and Japan, South Korea narrowly beat Taiwan and scraped into the final in second place on TQB (Team's Quality Balance). But unable to overcome the gap in strength, the team had to settle for a runner-up finish for the third straight tournament, following 2017 (the first edition) and 2023 (the second). Japan, the champions, will receive 30 million yen (approximately 250 million won), while South Korea will receive 10 million yen (approximately 80 million won) as the runner-up prize.
With this loss, South Korea extended its 13-game losing streak (with one draw) and its 11-year winless run in international Korea-Japan games between national teams made up of professional players, dating back to its 4-3 semifinal victory at the 2015 WBSC Premier12.

South Korea's pitching staff struggled from the outset. Kim Gun-woo (SSG Landers), who threw 50 pitches against Australia on the 12th and started after just two days' rest, surrendered the first run with a solo home run to left by Nishikawa Misho after two outs in the bottom of the first.
The shaky pitching led to more runs as defensive errors compounded the problem. After giving up a hit to Shoji Yudai in the bottom of the third, South Korea faced a no-out, runner-on-third situation after a throwing error by catcher Cho Hyeong-woo (SSG), then fell behind 0-2 on an RBI double by Muneyama Rui.
The decisive turning point came in the fifth. Kim Gun-woo, who had thrown 79 pitches through four innings, took the mound again in the fifth but put runners on first and second with no outs after a leadoff hit and a throwing error to first. With the dugout missing its chance to make a pitching change, Kim was ultimately punished when Masaki Tomoya crushed a fastball left over the middle for a three-run homer to left-center. The score quickly stretched to 0-5, and the balance of the game swung entirely in Japan's favor.

South Korea's lineup was also completely silenced by the pitching of Japan's starter Hiroto Takahashi, who allowed four hits and one run and struck out seven over seven innings. In the top of the first, leadoff hitter Kim Ji-chan (Samsung Lions) reached on an infield single, but the heart of the order, Kim Do-yeong (Kia Tigers) and Kim Ju-won (NC Dinos), struck out back-to-back and failed to capitalize on the opportunity.
Unable to find a way through for much of the game, South Korea finally got a run back in the top of the seventh, trailing 0-5, on a double by Ahn Hyun-min (kt wiz) and a pinch-hit RBI single to left by Ahn Jae-seok (Doosan Bears). In its last turn at bat in the top of the ninth, Kim Do-yeong led off with a double to right-center, keeping a glimmer of hope alive to the end, but the next batters were all retired, bringing the game to a bitter close.
The team, having completed its tournament schedule, is expected to return home via Gimpo International Airport on the 16th. Earlier, Australia beat Taiwan 6-4 in the third-place game to finish third.


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