A week before its first game at the World Baseball Classic (WBC), South Korea held its first workout with the entire team on hand in Seoul on Thursday.

Managed by Lee Kang-chul, South Korea had a two-week camp in Tucson, Arizona, in February and arrived back home Wednesday. The team's only two major leaguers, Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres and Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals, were not available for that camp due to their club commitments. Both landed in South Korea on Wednesday and joined their 28 teammates for the first time Thursday at Gocheok Sky Dome in the capital city.

It was a quick turnaround for the majority of players following their travel disruption. The national team was to be split into two groups on their connecting flights out of Los Angeles to South Korea, but the group carrying Lee and a few key players didn't make it from Tucson to Los Angeles on time after their plane got grounded due to mechanical issues.

That group took a long bus ride to reach Los Angeles and missed the original flight home. Those coaches and players arrived home at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, 12 hours later than scheduled.

The rest of the team landed home as scheduled at around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The early portion of Thursday's session was held behind closed doors, and the media were only allowed to enter the dome after about two hours into the workout.

A national team official said with Kim and Edman now in the fold, the team was working on bunt defense and putting down signs for shifts.

Manager Lee said his players didn't look any worse for wear during practice.

"It is good to be home. These players must have been tired, but none of them showed any signs of fatigue today," Lee said after a nearly three-hour session at the dome. "They all did what they were supposed to do, according to their routines."

South Korea is scheduled to face the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization in an informal scrimmage, starting at 5 p.m. Friday at the dome. Manager Lee has said he wants all 15 of his pitchers to see action, and some of them will pitch for the Landers and face national team hitters.

"This is essentially our last opportunity to check on every pitcher in a game situation before settling on our rotation," Lee said. "After tomorrow, I think we will have a better idea of who's going to pitch in the first game and who will take the mound in the second game."

Kim and Edman aren't eligible for Friday's game, because it's not an official, WBC-sanctioned exhibition game.

"After the nine-inning game, the two players will face some live pitching, about 15 pitches each" Lee explained. "If they don't get that opportunity tomorrow, they will have gone three or four days without seeing live pitching."

Kim and Edman will be able to play in the two pretournament games scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in Osaka, against the Orix Buffaloes and the Hanshin Tigers.

South Korea will fly to Osaka on Saturday afternoon and have a workout there the following day before those two games.

Edman won the National League Gold Glove at second base in 2021, and Kim was a finalist for the award at shortstop last year, Together, they will form one of the top defensive middle infields in the tournament.

Lee quipped that he told Edman it was "an honor" for him to work with a major league player.

"He really threw himself into the team today. He was asking questions and trying to soak up everything," Lee added. "I am glad we picked him for the national team. I think his positive attitude will rub off on the rest of the team."

South Korea's first Pool B game is against Australia at noon next Thursday at Tokyo Dome. It will be followed by games against Japan on March 10, the Czech Republic on March 12 and China on March 13, all at Tokyo Dome.

The top two nations after round-robin action will move on to the quarterfinals on March 15 and 16, up against the two best teams from Pool A -- made up of Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Italy, Panama and the Netherlands.

The semifinals on March 19 and 20, and the final on March 21 will be at LoanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins.

Source: Yonhap News Agency