A while ago, I wrote an article on the Taiwanese professional leagues, so I thought I'd move on to another Asian country and provide a profile on the status of professional baseball in South Korea. Sports-wise, baseball is probably the second most popular sport in the country, after soccer. Korea's baseball roots can be traced back to the early 20th century and the missionary treks throughout Asia. The sport became an official professional league in 1982, when the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) formed the Korea Professional Baseball league (KPB). The KBO also formed the Futures League, which acts as the KPB's minor league system.