Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon met with Charlie Hill, Major League Baseball's vice president of international strategy, in Las Vegas on Tuesday, pledging the city’s full support to help the MLB globalize baseball and vowing plans to build a domed baseball stadium and convention center, as previously announced.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of CES 2024, the world's largest technology show. Oh arrived in Las Vegas early Tuesday to host the Seoul Pavilion and promote Seoul’s innovative companies.

The meeting was arranged as MLB expressed its gratitude to the Seoul Metropolitan Government for its efforts to provide administrative support to host MLB regular season games for the first time at the commencement of the 2024 season.

In July 2023, MLB and the MLB Players Association announced their plans to open the 2024 season in Seoul. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are scheduled to play in Seoul on March 20 and 21 at Gocheok Sky Dome, which is currently the only domed stadium in Korea.

Oh voiced hopes to strengthen the special partnership with MLB by hosting the season openers.

“Seoul city hopes to strengthen communication and cooperation with MLB and we look forward to continue working with MLB. Through cooperation, the city of Seoul can get advice for building a domed baseball stadium and convention center from MLB and MLB can grow its presence in Korea and in the world,” Oh said.

In September, Oh announced the city’s plans to build the stadium and convention center in Jamsil as part of an initiative to develop the area in Songpa-gu. With the baseball stadium, the city hopes to host international sports events as well as domestic ones. Along with more than 30,000 seats, the stadium is to be built in the form of a dome so that events can be hosted without being affected by weather conditions. During baseball's offseason, other events such as large-scale performances could be held inside the stadium. The city government also plans to build a hotel at the stadium to provide a unique experience for visitors.

Hill told the mayor that his organization will find more ways to share its know-how with Seoul, and he hopes the 2024 MLB World Tour Seoul Series will be a good opportunity to expand baseball's fan base and exchanges with the city of Seoul.

Oh and Hill also talked about ways to cooperate on various projects, such as cultural exchanges through baseball.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday morning Oh attended the world’s biggest tech event in Las Vegas as the Seoul Metropolitan Government took part in the pavilion. The city of Seoul said 81 domestic companies and 13 organizations based in Seoul participated in its pavilion, and 18 companies among them won 2024 CES Innovation Awards.

“To help innovative companies in Seoul grow, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will continue to provide support to the extent possible,” Oh said.

Apart from Oh, other government heads attending this year’s CES include South Jeolla Province Gov. Kim Yung-rok, North Jeolla Province Gov. Kim Kwan-young, Gangwon Province Gov. Kim Jin-tae, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok and Ulsan Mayor Kim Doo-Gyum. Their visits are to promote their local strengths, encourage local companies and attract various industries to their regions.