BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles have apologized to two South Korean baseball organizations upset with the club over its contract with a local high school pitcher.

The Korea Baseball Association said Friday that the Orioles violated local rules that bar the signing of student players until their graduation year. KBA officials said the Orioles signed 17-year-old left-hander Kim Seong-min last month.

Dan Duquette, Baltimore’s new executive vice president of baseball operations, apologized to the Korea Baseball Organization and the Korea Baseball Association for an “unintentional breach of protocol in failing to tender a status check in the process of signing” Kim.

“The Orioles respect Major League Baseball’s recruiting policies, Duquette said in a release.