San Diego Padres arrive in South Korea for MLB Seoul Series season opener.

The San Diego Padres arrived in South Korea early Friday morning ahead of their season opening MLB Seoul Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Padres landed after midnight local time at Incheon International Airport near Seoul and were greeted by ta small group of fans who welcomed the team to baseball-mad South Korea.

This will be the first time Major League Baseball will start its season in South Korea and the Ininth time a new season has started outside the United States and Canada.

The most recent Opening Series abroad featured the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics in 2019 when they met in Tokyo, Japan.

The Padres feature a pair of Korean players in second baseman Ha-seong Kim and pitcher Woo-suk Go, who was added in the offseason.

San Diego will play an exhibition game against a South Korean national team selection on Sunday, followed by another tune-up on Monday against the LG Twins of the top-flight Korean Baseball Organization on Monday.

After an off-day on Tuesday, San Diego opens the 2024 MLB season with a pair of games next Wednesday and Thursday against Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers before returning to the United States.