Birthplaces · Asia · 2005–2026
🇰🇷MLB Players from South Korea
Every major leaguer born in South Korea who took a plate appearance or threw a pitch in a published season, with what they have done since 2005 — and who is playing now.
- Players
- 28 2005–2026
- Active in 2026
- 7
- Total dbWAR
- 102.3
- Home runs
- 458
- Strikeouts
- 2,564 3,161.0 IP
- Batters / pitchers
- 14 / 14
Notable
Superlatives over the seasons published here, not over whole careers.
Shin-Soo Choo2005–2020Most home runs218Shin-Soo Choo7,157 PAMost strikeouts934
Hyun Jin Ryu1,055.1 IPBest season7.3 WARShin-Soo Choo2013First to the majors1994
Chan Ho ParkHardest-hit ball112.9 mph
Ji Man Choi2021Youngest in 202627
Jihwan BaeMost seasons here16Shin-Soo Choo2005–2020The All-South Korean Team
The best player born in South Korea at each position since 2005, by the dbWAR he produced there. Positions nobody has filled are left open.
Ji Man Choi4.5dbWAR2B
Hyeseong Kim0.9dbWAR
Ha-Seong Kim5.4dbWARLF
Rob Refsnyder1.9dbWARCF
Jung Hoo Lee3.5dbWARRFShin-Soo Choo25.6dbWARDH
ByungHo Park-0.2dbWARAnd on the mound
How this is picked. Each player is filed at the one position he appeared at most often — so a shortstop who spent two years at third is a shortstop, and cannot hold both slots — and the spot goes to whoever produced the most dbWAR there. The figure on a card is therefore the value at that position rather than the career total shown elsewhere on this page: they differ for anyone who moved. Starting and relieving are counted separately for the same reason, on the share of each season's appearances that were starts. A slot needs 100 plate appearances or 20 innings to be claimed at all, which keeps a September call-up from becoming a first baseman. 13 position players are eligible here, with 5 starters and 7 relievers.
In the majors now
7 South Korean-born players were on a major-league roster in 2026. Every column sorts.
| Jung Hoo Lee | SF | RF | 28 | 143 | 579 | 10 | 57 | 12 | .276 | .320 | .404 | 102 | 1.8 |
| Hyeseong Kim | LAD | SS | 27 | 40 | 131 | 1 | 11 | 5 | .259 | .323 | .328 | 85 | 0.4 |
| Jihwan Bae | MIL | 2B | 27 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 | .667 | .500 | 259 | 0.1 |
| Sung-Mun Song | SD | 2B | 30 | 62 | 154 | 1 | 17 | 13 | .191 | .291 | .244 | 56 | -0.1 |
| Ha-Seong Kim | ATL | SS | 31 | 46 | 147 | 0 | 9 | 2 | .116 | .219 | .140 | 6 | -0.9 |
| Rob Refsnyder | SEA | DH | 35 | 53 | 129 | 4 | 11 | 0 | .140 | .211 | .254 | 24 | -1.0 |
| Woo-Suk Go | MIN | 28 | 4 | 0 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9.00 | 8.60 | 2.50 | -0.2 |
Clubs in 2026LAD 1SD 1SEA 1SF 1MIN 1ATL 1
The full 2026 leaderboards filter by birthplace too: batting · pitching — pick several countries at once there.
Since 2005
Career totals over the published seasons, ranked by dbWAR.
| Shin-Soo Choo | 2005–2020 | 16 | 7,157 | 1,671 | 218 | 782 | 157 | .275 | 39.3 |
| Ha-Seong Kim | 2021–2026 | 6 | 2,314 | 473 | 52 | 226 | 86 | .234 | 8.9 |
| Ji Man Choi | 2016–2023 | 8 | 1,841 | 367 | 67 | 238 | 6 | .234 | 5.5 |
| Jung Hoo Lee | 2024–2026 | 3 | 1,354 | 336 | 20 | 120 | 24 | .270 | 5.2 |
| Rob Refsnyder | 2015–2026 | 11 | 1,679 | 359 | 37 | 165 | 22 | .246 | 3.0 |
| Hyeseong Kim | 2025–2026 | 2 | 301 | 75 | 4 | 28 | 18 | .271 | 1.3 |
| Hyun Soo Kim | 2016–2017 | 2 | 585 | 141 | 7 | 36 | 1 | .273 | 1.2 |
| Hee-Seop Choi | 2005 | 1 | 368 | 81 | 15 | 42 | 1 | .253 | 1.0 |
| Jihwan Bae | 2022–2026 | 5 | 518 | 104 | 2 | 44 | 38 | .225 | 0.4 |
| Dae-Ho Lee | 2016 | 1 | 317 | 74 | 14 | 49 | 0 | .253 | 0.4 |
| Hoy Park | 2021–2022 | 2 | 210 | 36 | 5 | 20 | 2 | .201 | 0.1 |
| Sung-Mun Song | 2026 | 1 | 154 | 25 | 1 | 17 | 13 | .191 | -0.1 |
| ByungHo Park | 2016 | 1 | 244 | 41 | 12 | 24 | 1 | .191 | -0.2 |
| Jae-Gyun Hwang | 2017 | 1 | 57 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .154 | -0.3 |
| Hyun Jin Ryu | 2013–2023 | 10 | 1,055.1 | 78 | 1 | 934 | 3.27 | 21.5 |
| Chan Ho Park | 2005–2010 | 6 | 538.1 | 30 | 2 | 417 | 4.83 | 5.3 |
| Seunghwan Oh | 2016–2019 | 4 | 225.2 | 16 | 42 | 252 | 3.31 | 3.4 |
| Cha Seung Baek | 2006–2008 | 3 | 248.2 | 14 | 0 | 164 | 4.74 | 2.6 |
| Byung-Hyun Kim | 2005–2007 | 3 | 421.1 | 23 | 0 | 351 | 5.47 | 2.4 |
| Kwang Hyun Kim | 2020–2021 | 2 | 145.2 | 10 | 2 | 104 | 2.97 | 1.7 |
| Jae Weong Seo | 2005–2007 | 3 | 299.1 | 14 | 0 | 175 | 4.99 | 0.8 |
| Dae-Sung Koo | 2005 | 1 | 23.0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 3.91 | 0.3 |
| Sun-Woo Kim | 2005–2006 | 2 | 96.1 | 6 | 0 | 63 | 5.98 | 0.1 |
| Tommy Phelps | 2005 | 1 | 23.1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 4.63 | 0.0 |
| Chang-Yong Lim | 2013 | 1 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5.40 | -0.1 |
| Woo-Suk Go | 2026 | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9.00 | -0.2 |
| Jae Kuk Ryu | 2006–2008 | 3 | 39.2 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 7.49 | -0.6 |
| Hyeon-Jong Yang | 2021 | 1 | 35.1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 5.60 | -0.6 |
By season
How many were in the majors each year, and what they produced.
| Season | Players | Batters | Pitchers | PA | HR | IP | SO | dbWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1,144 | 16 | 4.0 | 5 | 0.1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1,212 | 25 | 0.0 | 0 | 5.6 |
| 2024 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1,016 | 24 | 0.0 | 0 | 4.3 |
| 2023 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1,357 | 26 | 52.0 | 38 | 4.2 |
| 2022 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1,275 | 30 | 27.0 | 16 | 6.8 |
| 2021 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 943 | 24 | 311.0 | 248 | 4.3 |
| 2020 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 306 | 8 | 106.0 | 96 | 2.9 |
| 2019 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1,214 | 44 | 201.0 | 179 | 9.8 |
| 2018 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1,019 | 33 | 150.2 | 168 | 7.3 |
| 2017 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1,086 | 26 | 186.0 | 170 | 1.5 |
| 2016 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 1,424 | 44 | 84.1 | 107 | 4.0 |
| 2015 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 700 | 24 | 0.0 | 0 | 4.8 |
| 2014 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 585 | 13 | 152.0 | 139 | 4.9 |
| 2013 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 778 | 21 | 197.0 | 159 | 11.2 |
| 2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 686 | 16 | 0.0 | 0 | 4.1 |
| 2011 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 358 | 8 | 0.0 | 0 | 1.1 |
| 2010 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 647 | 22 | 63.2 | 52 | 5.4 |
| 2009 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 703 | 21 | 83.1 | 73 | 6.6 |
| 2008 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 420 | 15 | 237.2 | 172 | 4.6 |
| 2007 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 64 | 0 | 271.0 | 202 | 0.1 |
| 2006 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 309 | 3 | 511.2 | 361 | 2.6 |
| 2005 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 519 | 15 | 522.2 | 379 | 6.1 |
Where in South Korea
Birth cities with more than one major leaguer, most first.
About this page
28 major-league players born in South Korea appear in this archive, between 2005 and 2026. 7 of them were on a major-league roster in 2026, down from 8 in 2005. Together they are worth 102.3 dbWAR, on 458 home runs and 2,564 strikeouts thrown.
The most valuable of them by our own measure is Shin-Soo Choo, worth 39.3 dbWAR across 2005–2020. His best year was 2013, at 7.3 WAR. Chan Ho Park has been in the majors longest of anyone here, since 1994.
Shin-Soo Choo has hit the most home runs, 218. Hyun Jin Ryu has thrown the most strikeouts, 934. The hardest ball anyone from here has struck came off Ji Man Choi's bat at 112.9 mph, in 2021. These are totals over the seasons published here rather than whole careers: a player who debuted before 2005 arrives mid-career, and his numbers start where the archive does.
Seoul has produced 9 of them, more than anywhere else in South Korea. In 2026 they are spread across 6 clubs, one each — among them Los Angeles Dodgers.
Country here means country of birth, taken from each player's biographical record. It is not nationality and not who a player has represented internationally — the three disagree often enough to matter, and birthplace is the one this data actually holds. Every rate statistic and every dbWAR figure is computed from play-by-play using constants measured from each season's own data, so the numbers are era-correct without being copied from anywhere. See the derivation →
Every birthplace · 2026 batting leaders · 2026 pitching leaders · every player · every club · the 2026 standings.