The government and the top professional baseball league said Monday they will work to replace the concrete outfield walls at stadiums throughout the country amid increased injuries and growing calls for change.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said in a statement that it will devise a plan in July to change the outfield walls of eight stadiums with cooperation from the nine Korea Baseball Organization clubs and regional authorities that manage the ballparks.

The ministry noted that hard, concrete walls with little padding have caused injuries to several players and that it recognizes the need to better protect the athletes.

The KBO and its clubs have been in the hot seat for several seasons after players sustained injuries from crashing into the walls.

According to the ministry, the KBO will invite U.S. experts who have worked on Major League Baseball stadiums and develop new standards for safety in July.

The ministry said costs for the work will be determined after the end of the KBO season in November, taking into account the KBO’s new safety standards and the finances of regional governments.

“The ministry and the KBO have agreed that the safety of the players is of the utmost importance,” the ministry said in a statement. “To ensure their safety, we’ve also agreed that we need to quickly establish new standards of safety for the walls.”

On May 8, SK Wyverns’ left fielder Lee Myung-gi slammed into the wall trying to catch a long fly at Munhak Stadium in Incheon and injured his left ankle. Three weeks later, Lotte Giants’ outfielder Jeong Hoon slid head-first into the first base wall at Sajik Stadium in Busan chasing a foul pop, and lay motionless for a moment before being carried off the field on a stretcher.

Though Jeong escaped a serious injury, his play prompted the Korea Professional Baseball Players Association to issue a statement urging the KBO and regional governments to quickly replace the walls.

Among earlier high-profile cases, Kia Tigers’ All-Star outfielder Lee Yong-kyu broke his ankle in his collision with a center field wall and missed several weeks of play in 2009.

In 1998, Kang Dong-woo, a high-touted rookie outfielder with the Samsung Lions, suffered a broken fibula after crashing into a wall and was unable to play for the next two years. (Yonhap News)