Players in green jerseys took the field June 27 at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama for a minor league Double-A game between the Montgomery Biscuits and the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
The otherwise typical summer scene was unusual in one respect: the Biscuits’ jerseys were emblazoned with the word “kimchi” in bright-orange Korean lettering.
“Biscuits are the soul food of the Southerner,” says Keith Park of the nonprofit Alabama International Education and Economic Partnership (ALIEEP), which promotes greater cultural awareness across Alabama communities. “To celebrate Alabama’s connection to Korea, the idea was to ‘roll over’ to Korean food once a year.”
Since 2021, the Montgomery Biscuits have hosted an annual “Korean Heritage Night,” where the team changes its name to “Kimchi” and plays in “Kimchi” jerseys for a day. The June 27 game featured a kimchi bag giveaway. A second Kimchi Night is scheduled for August 2 and will feature Korean traditional music and taekwondo performances.
Kimchi is a traditional Korean staple most often made by fermenting napa cabbage in a variety of chilies, garlic, and other spices and is famed for its health-promoting properties.
“When people think of Montgomery, Alabama, they think of Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement, but we wanted to show that Montgomery has a more diverse population, including Koreans,” Park notes.
Korean Heritage Night began as a collaborative effort between ALIEEP, the baseball team, and the local community. The team’s Korean Heritage Nights are sponsored by Korean food maker Pulmuone, which has hosted food tastings at each game over the past three years.
According to Kim, when Major League Baseball was shut down in 2020 due to COVID-19, ESPN began broadcasting South Korea’s KBO games under quarantine. “That’s when I realized that both Korea and the U.S. love baseball, and that’s when the idea for Montgomery Kimchi came about,” he said.
The Biscuits are a Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League.
Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, is the heart of the South and a symbol of Korean investment. This year marks the 25th anniversary of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group opening its first U.S. automobile production plant in 2005. Over 20 years, Hyundai has produced 6.27 million vehicles, employing more than 40,000 people directly and indirectly in Montgomery, Alabama.
Korean investment in Alabama is also diversifying Montgomery’s population. In 2000, Alabama’s population was 71 percent white, 26 percent Black, and only 0.6 percent Asian, according to the census. By 2020, the Asian population had nearly quintupled to 2.9 percent. According to Business Insider, Korean is the third most frequently spoken language in Alabama, after English and Spanish.
“The Hyundai plant has increased interest in Korea and the Korean language within local communities,” says Kim. “After four years of organizing… I still get excited when students and teachers from Korea and Alabama come out to see a kimchi baseball game.”
Montgomery went on to beat the Trash Pandas 5-4.
Just to the east, in Lawrenceville, Georgia, Korean American Pastor James Song throws out the first pitch in a minor league Triple-A game between the Gwinnett Strippers and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. The May 30 game was part of the Gwinnett Stripers’ AAPI Heritage Night, in recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
“I’ve always loved baseball, but this is the first time I’ve ever played the game,” said Pastor Song of the nonprofit Mission Agape, which for more than 15 years has provided meals and other necessities to Atlanta’s low-income residents, while hosting free English and math tutoring throughout Metro Atlanta. “Playing against real league players on a real baseball field makes me realize that we Koreans are now a part of the United States.”
Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson, Georgia State Representative Matt Reeves, and former DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson were among elected officials on hand for the game, a sign of the Korean community’s rising presence in the region.
Atlanta, Georgia, has also seen recent investment from Korean companies. Hyundai Motor Group opened a Kia Motors Georgia plant in 2010 and a Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America opened in 2025. South Korea’s SK and Hanwha opened a battery plant and a solar panel factory in 2023, respectively.
“With South Korea’s investment and population growth, Georgia and South Korea want to better understand each other’s cultures,” Song said, adding, “Both Koreans and Southerners love baseball, which is a great common value to start the conversation.”
Feature image via X.
