SOUTH KOREA – The success of the Korean national team at the second World Baseball Classic has increased the popularity of the sport over the past month. South Korea, which won the Olympic gold medal last summer in Beijing, finished runner-up at recently concluded WBC international tournament.

The sales of baseball items (caps, gloves, bats) increased dramatically at online television shopping malls and Lotte Mart, one of the nation’s leading discount chains. According to industry members, Lotte Mart enjoyed a 490 percent increase in its baseball items sales from March 5 to 18.

Telecommunications companies in South Korea are also capitalizing on the success of the national baseball team. The nation No. 2 mobile operator, KTF, had a 25 percent rise in subscriber’s downloading baseball games onto their handsets. SK Telecom saw downloads of mobile baseball games increase by 19 percent.

Koreans were also watching the matches on their cell phones with more than 25,000 subscribers tuning in to the third Japan vs. Korea matchup at Tokyo Dome.

Tags: South Korea