“No matter how much I think about it, I keep thinking that this is not true, so I think I mustered up the courage to say it.”
From the morning of the 29th, what dominated the news related to the KBO League was not the analysis or forecast of the regular season that was about to open, but the excommunication of former KIA Tigers general manager Jang Jeong-seok’s demand for a rebate. When LG Twins catcher Park Dong-won claimed that he was asked for ‘back money’ in the process of negotiating a multi-year contract with former general manager Jang last year, who belonged to the KIA, the scandal grew.
Former general manager Jang submitted a written explanation to the KIA and expressed his appreciation, but the club’s response was firm. He held a disciplinary committee and decided to dismiss, the highest level of discipline. 토토사이트
KIA bowed its head in an official press release, saying, “We bow our heads in apology to all fans who love professional baseball as well as KIA Tigers fans for Jang Jeong-seok’s demeaning behavior.”
Park Dong-won moved to KIA through a trade in April of last year when he was a member of Kiwoom Heroes. Park Dong-won was in the situation of acquiring FA (free agent) qualifications after the end of the 2022 season, but KIA, which was in urgent need of catcher reinforcement, recruited Park Dong-won at the risk of bleeding by giving away 1 billion won in cash, utility player Kim Tae-jin, and the 2023 rookie second round nomination.
KIA promoted a multi-year contract immediately after bringing in Park Dong-won. Park Dong-won has established himself as a key player in the team and made a considerable investment in the trade process, so it was natural for Park Dong-won to stay at KIA, but it did not happen.
After exercising his FA rights after the 2022 season, Park Dong-won moved to the LG Twins for a total of 6.5 billion won over four years. Even up to this point, it seemed that Park Dong-won chose LG, not KIA, due to the difference in terms of the contract.
However, during the expedition in August of last year, Park Dong-won was asked for back money in the process of negotiating a multi-year contract with former general manager Jang, and the conversation was recorded. After thinking about it, Park Dong-won recently reported the contents by email to the KIA club’s office and informed the Professional Baseball Players Association (hereinafter referred to as the Athletes’ Association).
Jang Dong-cheol, secretary general of the Athletes Association, said in a phone call with ‘Xports News’, “Park Dong-won sent a complaint to the club’s office in early March. Since numerous complaints are raised to the president of the parent company every day, it will inevitably take time before they are delivered to the KIA club.” He explained, “Since the player did not receive a reply for several days, I requested support from the Athletes’ Association, and after revealing my identity to the KIA club office, I requested an investigation into Park Dong-won’s complaint.”
Then, he emphasized, “Choi Jun-young, the CEO of the KIA club, contacted me afterwards and an investigation was conducted.
Even after transferring to LG, Park Dong-won is known to have struggled with the issue of informing the world of what he was asked for back money. Earlier this month, after returning home from LG’s Arizona spring camp, he made up his mind and put it into action.
Secretary-General Jang said, “Park Dong-won thought a lot before the start of the spring camp, and it was the same during training in the United States. KIA is a club that is loved by many fans, and he left for another team, but you can see it as sending an e-mail to the owner of KIA out of regret.”