Baseball Helping To Revive Tiny South Korean Island Community
A tiny island in South Korea is getting a new lease on life thanks to the local high school's baseball team.
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00:00 A group of young people run with purpose across a sandy beach.
00:05 They've come here to train, far from the distractions of home.
00:09 If all goes to plan, the names stitched on their jerseys will one day be known across
00:13 the country, and maybe even the world.
00:16 This is Dokjeok Island, a tiny speck of South Korea in the Yellow Sea.
00:21 Though just a few hours from the bright lights of Seoul, life here is far from fast-paced.
00:26 Since the 1950s, the population has plummeted to just under 2,000 people.
00:34 But things are changing, thanks to elite baseball manager Kim Hak-yong.
00:38 His plan is to turn the island, already used for spring training camps, into an incubator
00:43 for Korea's next baseball champions.
00:46 Promising student-athletes from around the country enroll in the island's high school,
00:50 where they're turned into pros.
00:52 With the program's launch last year, 28 student-athletes signed up.
00:57 This year, 13 new teammates joined them.
01:00 The school, once on the brink of closing, is now a lively place.
01:04 For the Ahn brothers, aged 16 and 17, it's been quite a journey from their hometown,
01:09 400 kilometers away.
01:11 But it's one they say has been worthwhile.
01:13 "I have nothing to do, so I can only play baseball.
01:17 I can play baseball when I'm bored, and that's my goal."
01:27 "I came here with my brother because he said he'd give me a lot of opportunities.
01:30 If I work hard here, he'll give me a lead.
01:36 So I think I'm working harder.
01:40 If I do well here, I'll be a pro.
01:47 I think it's good that I can do well here."
01:51 Baseball is big business in Korea.
01:53 The Pro League has 10 teams, and this year alone, their games have drawn more than 8
01:57 million fans.
01:59 With good coaching and grueling training, the program promises to put Deokjeok Island
02:03 on the map as the birthplace of stars.
02:07 It's taken a while for some locals to warm up to the idea, though.
02:11 Much of the funding for the program comes from islanders' money, earned from sand dredged
02:15 offshore that goes to construction sites in Seoul.
02:18 "People who are old, who don't understand the concept of giving money to children from
02:24 the mainland, say that they want to build a school for the children of Deokjeok Island
02:32 and to prevent the school from being closed."
02:43 But with time, many, like this 82-year-old, have been won over.
02:47 "We like our children here.
02:50 It's good that more and more come here.
02:53 But we're worried that they'll be taken away."
02:57 The teams become the pride of this tiny island, and an example of how to revive South Korea's
03:02 many small communities as the country's population ages.
03:06 Devin Tsai and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.
03:09 Plus.
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