The 2026 KBO League season, officially known as the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League () for sponsorship reasons, is an ongoing professional baseball season based in South Korea; the 45th in the history of the KBO League. The league's format and makeup did not change in the 2026 season from the previous season, with the same ten teams competing; the Kia Tigers, Doosan Bears, Lotte Giants, NC Dinos, LG Twins, Hanwha Eagles, KT Wiz, Samsung Lions, SSG Landers, and the Kiwoom Heroes.

The Twins entered the season as the defending champions from the 2025 season.

Rules The Korea Baseball Organization announced rule changes for the 2026 season. Teams were able to add an Asian or Australian import player to their roster alongside three foreigners. That player must have competed in Asia or in Australia in the 2025 season. KBO teams could not spend more than $200,000 in those players including salary, signing bonus and buyout fee paid to the former team.

The league made changes to the pitch clock; 18 seconds are given with bases empty and 23 seconds will be given with (a) base(s) occupied.

Offseason Shinhan Bank has agreed to serve as the title sponsor of the KBO League, until at least 2037. It is the country's largest sports sponsorship deal to date. Shinhan Bank will pay KR₩ 15 billion (US$ 77.7 million) to keep the designation during the 2028–2037 league season. Shinhan Bank has agreed to assist both the national and youth baseball teams as part of the agreement.

On December 22, 2025, Song Sung-mun (3B) of the Heroes signed a four-year, $15 million deal with the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball. Song will receive an additional $1 million signing bonus in two installments. Song's deal includes a $4 million player option for 2029 and a $7 million mutual option for 2030 with a $1 million buyout.

On February 23, 2026 KBO announced a statement regarding four Giants players (Ko Seung-min, Kim Dong-hyeok, Kim Se-min, and Na Seung-yeop). They allegedly visited a gambling arcade during spring training in Taiwan. According to the statement, the disciplinary committee confirmed that Kim Dong-hyeok had visited the location three times since last year and was therefore suspended for 50 games. Ko Seung-min, Kim Se-min, and Na Seung-yeop who were each confirmed to have visited once were suspended for 30 games.

On the same day, the Eagles signed Roh Si-hwan (3B) to an 11-year extension worth up to KR₩ 30.7 billion (US$ 21.3 million) including an option and release clause allowing him to move to the MLB via the posting system after 2026. This contract is the longest and most expensive deal in KBO history.

On August 6, 2026, the KBO has cancelled all games through Sunday to protect players and spectators from an extreme heatwave in South Korea. It will resume on the next Tuesday from the decision between the KBO and the general manager of 10 KBO clubs earlier in this day, which follows growing calls for a stronger heat wave after a spectator collapsed from a suspected heat-related illness at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Tuesday. The KBO also pushed back the starting games, including weekend matches, to 7 p.m. for the time being. Games time previously started at 6:30 p.m. on weekdays. and 6 p.m. on weekends. After that, which will continue time starting at 7 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on Saturdays, Sunday games may begin at 2 p.m. depending on the television broadcast schedule.

Spring Training All KBO teams took part in Spring Training games in Taiwan, Japan and the United States. Teams played against CPBL, NPB, and MLB teams.

Pre-WBC exhibition games The South Korean national team played exhibition games in Okinawa, Japan with some KBO teams to prepare for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

The Chinese Taipei national team played the Heroes to prepare for the WBC and was held in Taipei, Taiwan.

Preseason These are the final preseason standings.

The preseason started on March 12 and ended on March 24.

+Preseason standingsRankTeam 1 Lotte Giants 12 8 2 2 — L1 7–2–1 1–0–1 2 Doosan Bears 12 7 4 1 1.5 L1 3–1–2 4–0–2 3 Hanwha Eagles 12 6 6 0 3 W2 6–0–4 0–0–2 Samsung Lions 12 6 6 0 L1 2–0–2 4–0–4 KT Wiz 12 5 5 2 W1 5–0–3 0–2–2 6 LG Twins 12 5 6 1 3.5 L2 0–0–2 5–1–4 Kiwoom Heroes 12 5 6 1 W2 0–0–0 5–1–6 8 SSG Landers 12 5 7 0 4 W1 3–0–5 2–0–2 9 Kia Tigers 12 4 6 2 W1 2–1–1 2–1–5 10 NC Dinos 12 4 7 1 4.5 L4 4–1–3 0–0–4

Regular season The regular season began on March 28 and will end on October 12. Like previous seasons, each team will play 144 games, facing every other team 16 times. Games are played every day except Mondays.

Standings +Regular season standingsRankTeam 1 KT Wiz 142 88 49 5 — W8 45 2 24 43 3 25 Korean Series2 Samsung Lions 141 83 55 3 5.5 L1 43 1 27 40 2 28 Playoff3 Kia Tigers 140 76 62 2 12.5 W1 40 2 28 36 0 34 Qualified4 LG Twins 141 77 63 1 12.5 W2 42 0 31 35 1 32 Qualified5 Doosan Bears 143 73 65 5 15.5 L1 40 3 27 33 2 386 SSG Landers 142 64 73 5 24 W1 33 4 33 31 1 40 Did not qualify7 NC Dinos 142 63 77 2 26.5 L4 32 0 40 31 2 378 Lotte Giants 140 61 76 3 27 L4 28 0 41 33 3 359 Hanwha Eagles 143 57 82 4 32 L1 27 3 40 30 1 4210 Kiwoom Heroes 144 50 90 4 39.5 W1 28 2 43 22 2 47 Statistics are correct as of October 7, 2026.

Note: Draw results are ignored by the league when calculating win percentage and games behind.

Note: All dates and times are in KST (Korea Standard Time).

All-Star Game Like in previous all-star games, the ten KBO teams are divided into two All-Star teams: the Nanum All-Stars (나눔) and the Dream All-Stars (드림). The all-star game will be hosted at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on July 11. This game is the last all-star game before the demolition of the stadium.

+2026 KBO All-Star TeamsTeamAll-Star TeamKia TigersLG TwinsHanwha EaglesNC DinosKiwoom HeroesSamsung LionsDoosan BearsKT WizSSG LandersLotte Giants The starting players (candidates) from each team are voted by fans (70%) and KBO players (30%), which leads to a score. The players with the highest score are selected.

The most voted infielders and pitchers within their position group play in the game. The top 3 outfielders play in available positions, regardless if they are all on the same team.

The teams who appeared in the previous year's Korean Series provide their manager respectively for their all-star team.

Other players in the all-star vote may also appear later in the all-star game.

Home-run Derby 2026 KBO All-Star Game Com2uS Pro Baseball Home Run Derby was a home run hitting contest between eight batters from Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). The derby was held on July 10, 2026, at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, the site of the 2026 KBO All-Star Game. It have eight player from twelve player who was based on player who had hit nine or more home runs from the 2026 KBO League ranking as June 29. Among the top eight player was finally selected by the fan through KBO official website and official KBO application on between June 30 to July 2.

Com2uS Pro Baseball Home Run Derby Vote ResultRankingPlayerTeamNoteTOP 81Kim Do-yeongKia26,731 (15%)262Yang Eui-jiDoosan21,530 (12%)113Park Jun-soonDoosan18,170 (10%)94Austin DeanLG17,889 (10%)275Kang Baek-hoHanwha16,863 (9%)216Moon Hyun-binHanwha12,705 (7%)97Kim Ju-wonNC12,446 (7%)128Heo In-seoHanwha12,318 (7%)11Eliminated TOP 8 9Choi JeongSSG11,990 (7%)1810Choi Hyoung-wooSamsung11,449 (6%)1011Lewin DíazSamsung11,441 (6%)1512Oh Tae-gonSSG9,330 (5%)9

Main Match The game proceeds with batting within an out count, followed by a 30-second rest, and than batting within the time limit. The batting time is one minute, and this period has been named "Comfya Fever Time". The preliminary round will proceed with batting five outs, followed by a 30-second rest and additional batting during one-minute (Comfya Fever Time). While the final will involve batting within seven outs, followed by a 30-second rest and additional batting during one-minute (Comfya Fever Time). In both the prelimary and final rounds, the winner will be by the combined total of home runs within the out count plus home runs during Fever Time.

Com2uS Pro Baseball Home Run Derby ResultsPlayerTeamOut CountFever TimeTotalNotePreliminary Round (5 outs + 1 minute)Oh Tae-gonSSG257Heo In-seoHanwha527Kim Ju-wonNC112Moon Hyun-binHanwha134Kang Baek-hoHanwha617Park Jun-soonDoosan101Yang Eui-jiDoosan246Kim Do-yeongKia112Final (7 outs + 1 minute) Oh Tae-gonSSG437Kang Baek-hoHanwha347Sudden Death (30 Seconds) Oh Tae-gonSSG0Kang Baek-hoHanwha1

Home Run Derby Award Award CategoriesPlayerTeamNoteWinnerKang Baek-hoHanwhaPreliminary 7 runs, Final 7 runsRunner-upOh Tae-gonSSGPreliminary 7 runs, Final 7 runsDistance AwardKang Baek-hoHanwha145mComfya AwardHan Jun-suKiaKang Baek-ho Support

All-Star Game Roster Nanum All-Stars

+Nanum All-Stars RosterPos.PlayerTeamVotesScoreNoteBEST 12SPAdam OllerKia 1,383,14215030.91★RPJung Hai-youngKia1,719,89510232.00★★★CPSung Yeong-takKia1,767,18720640.58★CHeo In-seoHanwha1,677,17918137.41★1BAustin DeanLG2,392,84826754.04★★2BPark Min-wooNC1,011,37825033.29★★★3BKim Do-yeongKia2,130,21727550.95★★★SSKim Ju-wonNC1,136,91023333.76★★OFPark Hae-minLG2,161,78712539.98★★★Moon Hyun-binHanwha1,617,29015734.74★★Park Jae-hyunKia1,702,55211432.67★DHKang Baek-hoHanwha1,897,07525746.30★★★KBO Manager's Recommend PlayerPWoo Kang-hoonLG-Ryu Hyun-jinHanwha-Ryu Jin-wookNC-Jeon Sa-minNC-Park Joon-hyunKiwoom-Ahn Woo-jinKiwoom-Yuto KanakuboKiwoom-CHan Jun-suKia-Kim Gun-heeKiwoom-IFKoo Bon-hyeokLG-Lee Do-yunHanwha-OFMoon Sung-juLG-Song Chan-euiLG-All-star Coaching StaffMANAGERYoum Kyoung-youbLG-COACHKim Kyung-moonHanwha-Lee Ho-joonNC-Lee Bum-hoKia-Seol Jong-jinKiwoom-

Dream All-Stars

+Dream All-Stars RosterPos.PlayerTeamVotesScoreNoteBEST 12SPGwak BeenDoosan2,360,17418247.11★RPLee Seung-minSamsung1,365,50510927.54★CPLee Young-haDoosan1,610,9962924.91★CYang Eui-jiDoosan2,605,51018750.95★★★★★★★★★1BLewin DíazSamsung2,010,51119543.17★★2BPark Jun-soonDoosan2,258,06412741.48★3BChoi JeongSSG1,832,86617339.00★★★★★★★★★★SSPark Chan-hoDoosan2,299,1958739.02★★★OFKoo Ja-wookSamsung2,010,01521544.69★★★★★★★★★★Jung Soo-binDoosan2,272,9104835.68★★Choi Won-junKT1,054,15125334.12★DHChoi Hyoung-wooSamsung1,794,10927846.45★★★★★★★★★KBO Manager's Recommend PlayerPKim Keon-wooSSG-Yang Chang-seopSamsung-Son Dong-hyunKT-Jeon Yong-juKT-Kim Jin-ukLotte-Park Jeong-minLotte-Hyeon Do-hoonLotte-CCho Hyeong-wooSSG-Kim Do-hwanSamsung-IFJeong Jun-jaeSSG-Hur Kyoung-minKT-OFOh Tae-gonSSG-Hwang Seong-binLotte-All-star Coaching StaffMANAGERLee Soong-yongSSG-COACHPark Jin-manSamsung-Lee Kang-chulKT-Kim Tae-hyoungLotte-Kim Won-hyongDoosan-

Result

Nanum All-Stars Lineup

+Nanum All-Stars Batting#PlayerPos.Team1Park Min-woo2BNC0.000200000010Lee Do-yunHanwha0.7504130300002Park Hae-minCFLG0.250401000000Moon Sung-ju0.0002000000003Kim Do-yeong3BKia0.4005020001104Kang Baek-hoDHHanwha0.000500010020Kim Gun-heePH→DHKiwoom0.5002110000005Austin Dean1BLG0.333311000001Han Jun-suKia0.6673120200006Moon Hyun-binRFHanwha0.8005340100007Kim Ju-wonSSNC0.500211010010Koo Bon-hyeokLG0.5002010100008Heo In-seoCHanwha0.8005140100009Park Jae-hyunLFKia0.000200000010Song Chan-euiPH→LFLG0.667312000000 +Nanum All-Stars PitchingPlayerTeamAdam OllerKia1.0311200010000.00Ryu Hyun-jinHanwha1.049400000000.00Ahn Woo-jinKiwoom1.0624520010119.00Park Joon-hyun1.0623520011000.00Jeon Sa-minNC1.0410310010000.00Woo Kang-hoonLG1.0317300000000.00Yuto KanakuboKiwoom1.0411410001000.00Jung Hai-youngKia1.0310300000000.00Ryu Jin-wookNC0.115100000000.00Sung Yeong-takKia0.25195300001113.50

Dream All-Stars Lineup