The Korea Baseball Organization is trading in its cardboard cutout fans for real ones.

South Korea announced Sunday it will begin reopening stadiums to spectators this week. A KBO official said the league is working to welcome fans back as soon as Friday.

"We haven't yet established specific guidelines, and we have to monitor the situation with the virus, but we expect to have fans back in the stands by Friday at the earliest," the league's secretary general Ryu Dae-hwan told the Yonhap News Agency on Sunday. "We'll make the health and safety of our fans the No. 1 priority."

The KBO aims to open stadiums at 30% capacity before working its way up to 50% in the coming weeks, according to the news agency.

The league had been playing in empty stadiums since the season began on May 5.

The highest level of baseball in South Korea, the KBO was one of the first sports to return during the coronavirus pandemic. With games airing on ESPN throughout the summer, the league has become popular among baseball fans awaiting MLB's return.