Japanese media have dealt with Kang Jung-ho’s remarks regarding KIA Tigers manager, who failed to return to the professional baseball world due to drunk driving.
Japan’s “Sponicia Nex” reported Kang Jung-ho’s news on the 3rd under the title of “Former Pirates Kang Jung-ho ‘I’ll Go’ KIA’s next manager!? Fans’ uproar on SNS posts.”
As each club is preparing for the season at its spring camp, Kia’s managerial position is vacant. This is due to Kim Jong-guk’s alleged malpractice, which erupted just before his departure from the spring camp. In this case, Kim and Jang were suspected of receiving bribes from a coffee company that sponsored KIA teams.
On the 27th of last month, KIA confirmed that Kim Jong-guk was under investigation by investigative authorities on the 25th, and finally confirmed it at a meeting with Kim Jong-guk on the 27th. The club announced that it decided that it could not perform its duties normally as a coach during the investigation and suspended his duties.
After learning that Kim Jong-kook is under investigation by the prosecution for alleged malpractice, the KIA team said that regardless of the prosecution’s investigation results, it judged him as an act of “damage to his dignity” and decided to terminate the contract with Kim Jong-kook. Currently, the spring camp is led by senior coach Jin Gap-yong.
Now that the situation has turned out to be the critical issue, who will take the position of KIA manager, Kang Jung-ho emerged from the scene. Kang directly commented on an Instagram post on the 31st of last month that broke the news about KBO baseball. The post said, “Who is the next manager that KIA fans want?” Kang commented, “I’ll come.”
When a fan asked me to come to Gwangju and work, I replied, “Can I say I want it? Fans should want Bitgoeul.” I don’t know how far the joke is, but it was clear that it caused a stir among baseball fans in some way.
Japan also shed light on the situation. “The fans were stirred up by the sudden posting of a Korean slugger who disappeared from the main stage of the Major League Baseball (MLB) a long time ago,” Japanese sports media Sponichi Nex reported. “The fans were shocked when Kang Jung-ho, a former Pirates infielder, commented on an Instagram post about the next manager of the KIA Tigers in the Korean professional baseball league.”
“According to Korean media, Kim Jong-guk, who served as manager of KIA, has been asked for an arrest warrant by Korean prosecutors on charges of accepting bribes in return for selecting a sponsor company. As a result, the team terminated its contract with Kim, making it an unusual situation for him to be absent just before the spring camp,” the media said.
“With this incident, I posted a picture and names of four players, including Lee Bum-ho, Sun Dong-ryul, Lee Dong-wook and Seo Jae-eung, whose names were not on the post, smiling and tears welling up emojis,” Kang said in the comment box. “I’m looking forward to it, I’ll cheer for you,” Kang said, asking to shine in Gwangju once again. On the other hand, some fans were negative, including “Don’t come,” he said.
“After playing nine seasons in the KBO, Kang Jung-ho played 297 games as an infielder for the Pirates between 2015 and 2016 and 2018 and 2019, but was fired on August 4, 2019. Due to the influence of drunk driving in December 2016, he could not play in the Major League in 2017, he said. “I tried to return to the KBO in 2020, but I couldn’t achieve it, and I’m effectively retiring.”
Since he even introduced the Japanese media, he is truly disgraceful.
Kang is already a figure that the baseball community has turned a blind eye to. Kang had three drunk driving accidents. After causing a drunk driving accident in Korea in 2016, investigations found two additional cases of DUI detection in 2009 and 2011. Afterwards, he held a press conference to apologize in June 2020 and withdrew his offer.
He tried to wear the uniform again in 2022, but it failed. Kang Jung-ho, who was declared a player terminated by the Heroes in January 2015, submitted an application to the KBO on March 18 to be terminated voluntarily. At the time, Ko Hyung-wook explained that he wanted to give him one last chance to finish his career as a baseball player.
However, KBO listened to opinions from all walks of life on Kang Jung-ho’s application to return to voluntary termination and after careful consideration of related issues, it allowed Kang to return to voluntary termination, but did not approve the player contract signed between Kiwoom Heroes and Kang Jung-ho in accordance with Article 44 (4) of the KBO Code.
At the time, KBO cited “the fact that Kang Jung-ho was punished for drunk driving three times, that he ran away without taking necessary measures even though he caused a car accident at the time of his third drunk driving, and that sports organizations should put ethical and moral values above all else because they are based on the spirit of “fair play.”
He also explained, “We decided not to approve the player contract because it would hinder the development of the KBO league if we approve the player contract between Kang Jung-ho and the Heroes, considering that the KBO League should fulfill its social calling as it can have a great influence on society as a whole.” 마카오토토
Meanwhile, arrest warrants for director Kim Jong-guk and former general manager Jang Jung-seok were rejected. Yoo Chang-hoon, a senior judge at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted an interrogation (review of the warrant) on the suspects before arrest of Kim Jong-guk and Jang Jung-seok, who are suspected of committing malpractice, on the 30th, and rejected arrest warrants for them.
“A large part of the data on the allegations have been secured, and it is difficult to say that there is a risk of destroying evidence or running away,” Chief Judge Yoo said. “Given the investigation details, the suspect’s interrogation attitude, the suspect’s career, a series of sponsorship processes and the suspect’s involvement in the testimony of those involved, it is necessary to guarantee the right to defend against whether the money and valuables are waiting for illegal solicitations,” he explained.
