K-Sports highlights with Jason Lee

South Korea has won its first East Asian WOMEN'S football title in TWO decades.

The tournament for the country's men's team did not end that successfully though.

For more in the world of K-sports we are joined by our sportscaster Jason Lee in the studio who will bring us all the highlights.

Hello Jason!

Q1. Let's kick off in a celebratory mood, South Korea's national women's football team won the East Asian Football Championship title, their first in 20 years?

Yes, this was actually a little unexpected, because Korea tied China 2-2 and Japan 1-1 in their first 2 games and both those teams also beat Chinese Taipei so basically whoever won between China and Japan would have 2 wins and a draw compared to Korea's best possible outcome of 1 win and 2 draws.

But, would you believe China and Japan played to a scoreless draw meaning all 3 teams finished with 1 win and 2 draws.

The first tie breaker is goals scored within the teams tied and Korea had 3 total goals in those 2 games, while China had 2 and Japan had just 1 so Korea would claim the title for the first time since the innaugural event back in 2005.

You could say Korea earned it with their win over Chinese Taipei, but they definitely also needed a bit of luck with the scoreless draw between China and Japan.

Q2. The East Asian Football Tournament however did not wrap up on a successful note for the men's team

Korea fell short in their pursuit of a 6th title.

Yes, Korea beat Hong Kong 2-0 and China 3-0, but they fell to Japan 1-0 in their final game.

Japan was plus 7 compared to Korea being plus 5 going into the game so Japan actually had an advantage only needing a draw compared to Korea needing to win the game to finish first in the standings.

Korea gave up a goal to Japan just 8 minutes into the final contest and then simply couldn't score.

Na Sang-Ho actually hit the post just before Japan's goal.

And Lee Jae-Ho almost scored on a spectacular volley that was stopped by the Japanese keeper.

But in the end Japan wins their 3rd E-1 Championship Korea still has the most wins with 5 of the 10 to date that's also Korea's 3rd straight loss to Japan which is a first in senior men's matches Korea still holds an edge with a 42-17 and 23 record against Japan overall.

Q2. Because Korea did not use any of their players based in Europe, there were a lot of opportunities for the K-Leaguers and others to shine who left an impression on you?

Yeah, there were 10 players that had never played a senior National team game on the roster so a lot of opportunity.

I have to admit that no one player really wowed me that much, but players that stood out from the pack, I would say: midfielder Seo Min-Woo was noticeable.

What I liked about his game was his ability to make accurate long passes he made a brilliant 20 yarder to Kang Sang-Yoon for a goal against Hong Kong.

It was a nice goal from Kang, but I kind of noticed the pass by Seo Min-Woo more and at the highest level it's passes like that that can make the difference.

The other player I want to mention is Lee Ho-Jae who scored Korea's 2nd goal against Hong Kong.

It was his first goal with the senior squad and what I liked about it was that it was a header.

And what's the big deal about that you might ask, well Lee Ho-Jae is 193cm tall, which translates to about 6'3'.

That makes him one of the taller Korean forwards and even if he doesn't become a regular, if he can become a winner in the air, that could prove useful for set plays and late game additions in big games.

Q3. Let's shift our attention to the KBO's All-Star Game. which took place over the weekend.

Team Nanum defeated Team Dream 8-6 what stood out in this year's game?

Yeah, the Nanum team is made up of players from the LG Twins, Kia Tigers, NC Dinos, Kiwoom Heroes and Hanhwa Eagles.

Team Dream actually led 1-0 in the first, but Team Nanum immediately responded with 4-runs in the bottom of the inning helped by a 2-run Park Dong-Won Home Run.

The LG catcher would be named the game's MVP for that shot as well 3 total hits and 3 RBI.

He received a Kia EV4 for his performance.

Q4. What about from an entertainment standpoint, because we all know that All Star Games in Korea are more about what the players prepare than how they play in the game

Yeah, there are always lots fun costumes and planned entertainment to keep everything light-hearted and fun.

And some of the more memorable spectacles included Hanhwa's Cody Ponce entering as Darth Vader.

Lotte's Victor Reyes stepped into the batter's box wearing a Korean Hanbok and Twins centerfielder Park Hae-Min showed up as Spiderman.

My favourite surprise of the eventhing was SSG Lander's pitcher Lee Ro-Un dressing up in a Boyscout uniform.

You sort of have to get it because Lee Ro-Un is only 20 years old, but he's got a baby face that makes him look like a middle schooler so I thought the boyscout costume was very appropriate and hilarious.

Q5. And before we could start the KBO's 2nd half, there's been some more leadership changes this time with Kiwoom parting ways with more than just their manager

Yes Kiwoom cleaned house firing manager Hong Won-Ki, General Manager Ko Hyung-Wook and even Bench Coach Kim Chang-Hyun.

This team has finished dead last in each of the last 2 seasons and will most likely make it 3 in a row by the end of this year.

Kiwoom have obviously lost some good players in Lee Jung-Hoo, Kim Hye-Seong and Kim Ha-Seong over the last few years, but they've also received over 20-million dollar in compensation for those guys that obviously wasn't properly spent to re-invest into the team so I'm not the least bit surprised these moves were made.

Q6. Speaking of those three former Kiwoom players, now that Major League Baseball just had its All-Star Game, how would you say the first half has been so far for Lee Jung-Hoo, Kim Hye-Seong and Kim Ha-Seong?

It's honestly been a bit of a roller coaster ride so far. Let's start with Lee Jung-Hoo who was off to a hot start in April not so much as of late his average has dropped to.249 and he's even been hitting lower in the order, usually at 6th most recently.

Honestly I think pitchers are figuring out how to pitch to him now and now he needs to recognize that and now adjust his hitting to how he's being pitched to and honestly I think he'll figure things out soon enough being the way he is.

Kim Hye-Seong on the Dodgers is getting much more playing time as of late and he's been contributing with a.339 average now with 2 home runs and 11 steals in just 112 at bats.

I would say he has outplayed Tommy Edmond as of late so hopefully that'll make him even more of a mainstay in the line up for the 2nd half.

As for Kim Ha-Seong of the Tampa Bay Rays, he really hasn't played enough yet with just 6 games under his belt after returning from shoulder surgery.

He does have a home run already, but is hitting just.227 in a small sample size, but I think we'll obviously see a lot more of him in the 2nd half where I expect he'll make a significant impact for Tampa Bay, not only with the bat, but of course with his Gold Glove defense as well.

Q7. There was a lot of attention towards Lee So-Mi last week as she held the halfway lead at the LPGA's major in France.

Things didn't finish the way she wanted however

Yeah, Lee So-Mi held the 2nd round lead at the LPGA's Evian Championship, but she finished with rounds of 71 and 73 that dropped her down to 14th place tie.

The eventual winner was Grace Kim who won in a playoff over Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand.

Kim actually represents Australia, but she is a 2nd generation Korean just like Lee Min-Jee who finished in a tie for 3rd just a stroke behind the finalists.

Thank you Jason for all the updates in the world of K-sports. Have a great rest of the week and see you next time.

Thank you Bella, see you back tomorrow.