The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) of South Korea was founded with six teams in 1982 and currently has eight. The teams are named after the companies or conglomerates which they belong to.
The first game was played on March 27, 1982 between Samsung Lions and MBC Blue Dragons (LG Twins) in Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul. Then-President Chun Doo-hwan threw the first pitch.
To date, founder members the Kia Tigers (formerly, Haitai Tigers) have won 9 of the 22 national championships.