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Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Sixteen-year MLB veteran Shin-Soo Choo will play the 2021 season in the Korean Baseball Organization, the All-Star outfielder said. The Shinsegae Group also announced Choo's signing Monday. His new contract is worth more than $2.4 million and is the largest in KBO history. Choo plans to donate nearly $900,000 of that to charity.
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"I was born in [Busan,] Korea, where I was raised and started baseball," Choo wrote Monday on Instagram. "I've always had hopes in my heart for a long time to play in Korea one day. Now I think it's time to put into action and start a new chapter of my life."
Choo spent the past seven years of his MLB career with the Texas Rangers. He hit .236 with five home runs and 15 RBIs in 33 games last season.
He hit .264 with 21 home runs and 62 RBIs in 2018 to make his first All-Star team. Choo has a career average of .275 with 218 home runs. He made his MLB debut in 2005 with the Seattle Mariners.
He also played for the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds. Choo had a $21 million salary in 2020.
The KBO's SK Wyverns held Choo's rights because they drafted him in 2007. The team is undergoing a rebranding campaign and was purchased in January by the Shinsegae Group. The team starts training camp in March.
The KBO franchise is based in Incheon, South Korea.
"I want to thank the team that gave me this opportunity to play in my country and especially in front of my parents," Choo wrote on Instagram. "Thank you for having me in spite of the current state of the world disaster."
