(LEAD) Ex-KBO MVP Kim Do-yeong headlines Asian Games baseball roster

SEOUL, June 11 (Yonhap) -- The 2024 South Korean baseball league MVP Kim Do-yeong was selected to the national team for the upcoming Asian Games on Thursday.

Kim, who was voted the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular-season MVP in 2024 for the Kia Tigers, was one of 24 players picked by manager Ryu Ji-hyun.

The Asian Games will take place around Aichi Prefecture in Japan, with the prefecture's capital, Nagoya, serving as the main host. The competition will run from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4, with the baseball tournament set for Sept. 21-27.

South Korea will try to win its fifth straight Asiad gold in baseball.

Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers heads to first base after hitting a groundball against the Hanwha Eagles during the clubs' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon on June 10, 2026. (Yonhap)

South Korean male athletes who win Asian Games gold medals receive exemption from the mandatory military service. After years of dealing with criticism that it was picking undeserving older players just to give them a chance to earn military service exemption, the KBO, which governs professional baseball, began selecting younger players at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

For this year, the KBO went with 21 players under 25, plus three "wild card" players in the 25-29 age bracket.

Kim, 22, didn't make the 2023 Asian Games team and will now have a chance to earn his military service exemption.

He had a historic 2024 season, in which he became the youngest player to join the 30-30 club with 38 home runs and 40 steals. After an injury-plagued 2025 season, Kim has bounced back this year by tying for first with 19 home runs and ranking third with 52 RBIs through Wednesday's action.

Cho Kye-hyeon, head of the KBO's national baseball competitiveness enhancement committee, explained that the KBO was forced to assemble the team more than three months ahead of the tournament to honor the deadline to submit the entry, and went ahead with some injured players who are expected to return to action well ahead of the Asian Games.

The KBO regular season will continue during the Asian Games, meaning losing key players during the stretch drive could affect teams' postseason pursuit. The KBO imposed a limit of three players from each of the league's 10 clubs.

National team manager Ryu Ji-hyun thanked the KBO clubs for their cooperation with sending some of their players to Japan at "such a critical point in their season."

"We expect to see an incredibly tight race for postseason berths, and tha