Pitcher Park Chan-ho will return home to play South Korean professional baseball for the time in his life next year after spending his entire professional career in the U.S. Major League.

The Korea Baseball Organization agreed to devise a special rule to allow the 38-year-old to play for the Hanwha Eagles in 2012. Existing rules would have required Park to enter the draft next year and wait until 2013 to start playing here, since he never played with a Korean professional baseball team.

However, the KBO has decided to allow him to play citing his contribution to the development of Korean baseball.

Hanwha will soon begin negotiations with the pitcher ahead of signing a contract.

Park was the first Korean to ever play in the U.S. Major League Baseball.