South Korea’s national baseball team left for Sapporo, Japan on Friday to compete in the inaugural international baseball tournament, Premier 12.
 
Managed by Kim In-sik, the team will spend two days in the capital city of Hokkaido Prefecture in preparation for its first game against Japan at the Sapporo Dome on Sunday.
 
Ranked eighth, South Korea is paired in Group B with top-ranked Japan and second-ranked U.S. The rest of the group is made up of sixth-ranked Dominican Republic, number ten Venezuela and twelfth-ranked Mexico.
 
After the game with Japan, the South Korean team will fly to Taiwan on Monday for the remaining group round games.
 
The Premier 12, sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, brings together the world’s 12 best baseball teams.