Former Major League Baseball(MLB) All-Star pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin has signed a record-high contract worth 17 billion won, or around 12-point-eight million U.S. dollars, to return to his former team the Hanwha Eagles in the Korea Baseball Organization(KBO) league after 12 years.

The Eagles announced on Thursday that they signed an eight-year contract with the 36-year-old, making him the highest-paid player in the KBO. The contract includes an opt-out, but the Eagles did not disclose details per mutual agreement with the player.

In a statement, Ryu thanked the KBO for bringing him back to the league under the record deal, adding he had always dreamed of playing for his former team again.

Following a successful seven-year run with the Eagles through the 2012 season, Ryu signed a six-year, 36-million-dollar contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, becoming the first South Korean player to jump from the KBO to the MLB. Ryu signed with the Toronto Blue Jays seven years later where he played until his contract expired last year.

As a Dodger, Ryu was the National League starter at the All-Star Game in 2019 and was the runner-up in the NL Cy Young Award vote that same year.