Jang Jeong-seok (50), general manager of the KIA Tigers, was dismissed after it was revealed that he demanded ‘back money’ in the process of negotiating the FA contract with catcher Park Dong-won (currently LG Twins) last year.
On the morning of the 29th, the KIA club announced that it had held a disciplinary committee and decided to dismiss general manager Jang Jeong-seok, who caused controversy for his demeaning behavior.
The club said, “After receiving a report last week that a player had requested money during negotiations with a player last year, we identified the facts. We decided that this was unacceptable, so we referred general manager Jang Jeong-seok to the disciplinary committee, and the final dismissal was taken.”
In addition, through an apology, the club said, 메이저사이트“We bow our heads in apology to the KIA Tigers fans as well as all fans who love professional baseball for the behavior of damaging the dignity of general manager Jang Jeong-seok.” To prevent this from happening again, we will put more effort into law-abiding education for all club employees and players, and we will make ceaseless efforts.”
According to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and the KIA club, Park Dong-won recently reported misconduct to the KIA club that general manager Jang Jeong-seok demanded ‘back money’ during contract negotiations.
The KIA club requested an explanation from general manager Jang Jeong-seok, and general manager Jang is said to have said it was a joke. After reporting this investigation to the KBO Clean Baseball Center on the morning of the 29th, KIA decided to dismiss him through the disciplinary committee.
Jang Jeong-seok, a former player, worked as a recorder at Hyundai Unicorns, a manager at Heroes, and a manager at the operation team after retiring.
In November 2021, general manager Jang took over as KIA general manager, and in April 2022, he traded Park Dong-won, who he had used while coaching Kiwoom, and brought him to KIA. He directed the trade. Afterwards, negotiations were held with Park Dong-won, who was about to qualify for free agency this year, but the contract was not reached.
It is known that general manager Jang asked for back money while trading Park Dong-won to KIA and negotiating free agency.
The corruption of Jang’s behind-the-scenes money, which broke out just three days before the 2023 season, is the biggest bad news ever for professional baseball. So far, it has been related to individual corruption such as gambling, drinking, and school violence, but this is the first time that a player has asked for money behind a contract. It is no different from the king of corruption that can bring distrust to the entire professional baseball contract.
In Korean baseball, on the 23rd, Lotte Giants pitcher Seo Jun-won was expelled from the league on the 23rd after being eliminated in the first round of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) finals in a row. In addition, professional baseball, which is about to open, is staggering as the top executive of professional baseball even erupted into a stir for back money.
The following is the official apology announced by the KIA Tigers club.
The KIA Tigers bow their heads in apology to the fans of the KIA Tigers as well as all the fans who love professional baseball for the recent behavior of damage to the dignity of general manager Jang Jeong-seok.
We would also like to apologize to all members of the league for causing harm to the entire KBO league ahead of the opening.
KIA Tigers immediately figured out the facts and judged that the demand for money and valuables was not justified for any reason, held a disciplinary committee, and immediately dismissed general manager Jang Jeong-seok.
The club feels a heavy sense of responsibility for this issue, and will work harder and constantly work on compliance training for all club employees and players to prevent this from happening again.
We apologize once again for causing concern to the fans who love professional baseball and support the KIA Tigers.