N. Jeolla loses race for Korean pro baseball`s 10th team . JANUARY 12, 2013 06:43. . North Jeolla Province was in a downbeat mood Friday after failing to land the 10th team of the Korean pro baseball league, an initiative that the province had placed an all-in bet for more than a year.

North Jeolla Gov. Kim Wan-joo, who went to Seoul to attend presentations Thursday, and his deputy Kim Seung-soo, who had stayed in the capital for a month to make all-out efforts to help land the team for the province, expressed deep disappointment when the Korea Baseball Organization said Friday, “Suwon-KT received better evaluation results.”

In a statement, the provincial government said, “We have been defeated by (Suwon-KT)’s offensive with massive capital and volume,” but added, “We will continue to build up infrastructure and policy to ensure residents can enjoy baseball, including the galvanization of amateur baseball teams.”

North Jeolla residents showed mixed responses over the result. One office worker said, "North Jeolla lost (the headquarters of) Korea Land & Housing Corp. (after the merger of Korea Housing Corp. and Korea Land Corp) to South Gyeongsang Province in 2011. We also failed to land the pro baseball league`s 10th team after making painstaking efforts, so I feel deep despair.”

A self-employed man said “The central government should give policy consideration (including the founding of a baseball team) to underprivileged regions,” but added, “An autonomous local government should end the practice of politically using an initiative that it takes up.”

North Jeolla`s failed strategy was also mentioned. After the province contacted several conglomerates but failed to form ties, it sought an alliance with Harim, a chicken meat supplier based in the province. After telecom giant KT and Suwon officially announced a partnership, the province changed its strategy to form a Harim-Iljin consortium.

Critics said a consortium cannot be competitive and advised that the province pursue a single-company system. This caused North Jeolla to hastily team up with Booyoung Group, a builder specializing in rental home construction, as recently as November.

With the Korean construction market in the doldrums amid the global economic slump, Booyoung’s competitiveness in the race was no match for KT, Korea’s largest communications company with 28 trillion won (26.5 billion U.S. dollars) in annual sales.

The league also recognized the telecom giant`s financial might, saying, “KT’s capacity to sustainably operate a baseball club was significantly recognized.”

A team led by Park Jae-hyeon from the Sports Analysis Center of Korea National Sport University said, “The North Jeolla Province-Booyoung team held a neck-and-neck competition (versus Suwon-KT), overcoming its early disadvantage by promoting the cause of ‘baseball enjoyed by all the people,’” adding “But in pro baseball, which costs the most among professional sports, it is natural for a larger company to land the pro baseball league`s 10th team.”