New Balance opens pop-up for MLB Seoul Series

The limited event is set to display baseball equipment used by Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and San Diego Padres' Kim Ha-seong and sell exclusive merch.

New Balance global brand ambassadors Shohei Ohtani, left, and Kim Ha-seong [E·LAND]

New Balance will open a one-week pop-up store filled with baseball equipment used by its global brand ambassadors Shohei Ohtani and Kim Ha-seong at Lotte World Mall in southern Seoul on Friday.

The pop-up will display baseball equipment used by Los Angeles Dodgers’ Ohtani and San Diego Padres’ Kim and will have limited edition items like iron-on patches for sale.

Customers can use those patches to design shirts, hoodies or caps.

Among those who choose to design their own apparel, four winners will earn a “gold ticket,” which includes a ticket to the official MLB Seoul Series game between the Dodgers and the Padres on March 21 and a Kim-autographed frame.

The opening of the pop-up store comes ahead of the MLB Seoul Series, which run from Sunday through March 21, during which the Dodgers and the Padres will be in action alongside the Korean national team and the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes and the LG Twins, who will play exhibition games ahead of the MLB opener.

The Dodgers will take on the Heroes, whose Gocheok Sky Dome will be used for all fixtures, in the opening game at midday, Korean time, on Sunday. The Padres will take to the field later that evening as they face the Korean national team at 7 p.m.

The Padres are up first on March 18, taking on the Twins at midday, with the Dodgers facing the Korean national team at 7 p.m.

The official MLB Seoul Series bewteen the Dodgers and the Padres — which act as the official opener to the 2024 MLB season — will then begin on March 20, with both Game 1 and the following day's Game 2 scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m.

The pop-up store will run through March 21, the last day of the Seoul Series.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]