No explosives found after bomb threat against Ohtani
SEOUL: South Korean police on Wednesday said no explosives had been found at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome after they searched the venue in response to a reported bomb threat against Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
The Dodgers are in the South Korean capital to face the San Diego Padres in two games to open the Major League Baseball season on Wednesday and Thursday. It is the first time that MLB has opened the regular season in South Korea.
The star attraction is Japan’s Ohtani, whom the Dodgers in December signed to a 10-year contract worth $700 million. He has been described as a contemporary version of Babe Ruth. Seoul’s Guro district police office told AFP that authorities did not find anything at the venue after special investigators searched the premises in the morning.
“We received a report about a potential explosive device, and searched the site, but we found nothing,” official Kim Seung-beom told AFP. “We intend to carry out another search before the audience is allowed to enter the Sky Dome later, before the game tonight.”
San Diego Padres manager Mike Schildt said he had “complete confidence” in MLB and the security in South Korea. “We feel safe and we haven’t really given it a second thought, quite honestly,” he said.
According to Seoul’s Yonhap news agency, South Korean authorities received a report from an employee at the Consulate General of South Korea in Vancouver, Canada. The person reportedly received an email threatening to detonate a bomb during the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers game, targeting superstar Shohei Ohtani and others, it added.
Written in English, the email was allegedly sent by someone claiming to be a Japanese lawyer, Yonhap said, adding South Korean authorities are currently investigating to determine if the email was indeed sent from Japan.
Ohtani won his second American League Most Valuable Player Award in six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels last year before departing for free agency. He is a national hero in his native Japan, even more so after leading the country’s national team to victory in last year’s World Baseball Classic. But his popularity also translates to South Korea, where baseball is arguably the country’s number-one sport.