Doosan → NC → KIA → NC rare case again, but isn't Lee Woo-sung the first time?

Jul 28, 2025

Doosan → NC → KIA → NC rare case again, but isn't Lee Woo-sung the first time?
KIA-KT match held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 21st. In the top of the ninth inning, Lee Woo-sung came out as a pinch hitter and hit, but he was tagged out by Kim Sang-soo at second base. Kim Sang-soo is consoling Lee Woo-sung, who is in pain from the collision. Suwon = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.5.21/



I've been on the same team twice, and I've been trading both times. It's a rare case, but it's not the first time.

KIA Tigers outfielder Lee Woo-sung will return to the NC Dinos through a trade. KIA and NC clubs officially announced a 3-3 trade on the afternoon of the 28th. In KIA, outfielder Lee Woo-sung, Choi Won-joon, and infielder Hong Jong-pyo will move to NC, while NC will send pitcher Kim Si-hoon, Han Jae-seung, and infielder Chung Hyeon-chang.

With this, Lee Woo-sung will return to NC again for the first time in about six years since he transferred to KIA through a trade on July 6, 2019.




What is surprising is that he has been traded to NC twice. Lee Woo-sung, born in 1994, joined the professional league after graduating from Daejeon High School, receiving the Doosan Bears' 15th overall pick in the second round in the 2013 rookie draft.

Lee Woo-sung when he played for
Doosan → NC → KIA → NC rare case again, but isn't Lee Woo-sung the first time?
NC. Sports Chosun DB
He entered the professional league as a prospect for Doosan's batters, but played only four games in the first team in Doosan, where the outfield was so solid at the time. Eventually, he moved to NC through a one-on-one trade with Yoon Soo-ho on July 30 of the 2018 season. It was his first trade.

The time in NC was not very long. Lee Woo-sung, who played 71 games while getting a chance to play in NC in the 2018 season, moved his team once again through a one-on-one trade with Lee Myung-ki on July 6, 2019. KIA gave up veteran outfielder Lee Myung-ki, who was the winning member, and gained corner outfield prospect Lee Woo-sung.




Since then, Lee Woo-sung has played for KIA for nearly seven seasons until this season. In 2023, he hit his first .300 batting average (0.301) since his professional debut, and last year, he played as a key player, hitting .288 with nine home runs and 54 RBIs, as well as playing as a member of the team's regular season and winning the Korean Series. However, both offense and defense stocks suffered a long slump, struggling with sluggishness this season, and eventually moved the team again through a 3 to 3 large trade.

Doosan → NC → KIA → NC rare case again, but isn't Lee Woo-sung the first time?
Kim Jung-soo wearing a SK Wyverns uniform in 2000. Sports Chosun DB
In the history of the KBO League, Lee Woo-sung is the third person in history to return to a team that moved to a trade. This is a case where only two people experienced it earlier.

In the past, pitcher Kim Jung-soo moved from the Haitai Tigers (currently KIA) to the SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers) through a trade in 2000 and later to the Hanwha Eagles as an FA. And it remains the first case of being traded from Hanwha back to SK in 2003. Kim Jung-soo retired from active duty after his 2003 season with SK.




The second case is outfielder Shin Dong-ju. After being traded from the Samsung Lions to the Haitai Tigers in 2001, he moved to Samsung as an FA compensation player. And in 2005, he was traded from Samsung to KIA again.

There are more players who have gone through the same team twice, including FA compensation players, trade transfers after joining and re-joining after release, but only these three players have gone through two teams purely in trade.

Lee Woo-sung was named the third player in a very rare case.



Reporter Na Yuri youll@sportschosun.com



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.