Day: January 30, 2024

SEOUL, The Kia Tigers have been gearing up for the 2024 season in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) with some high hopes until this week, when their postseason aspirations took a backseat to the abrupt dismissal of manager Kim Jong-kook over bribery suspicions.

The Seoul Central District Court held a hearing on the prosecution’s application for an arrest warrant for Kim and for the team’s ex-general manager, Jang Jung-suk, on Tuesday, the same day the Tigers traveled to Australia for spring training and one day after the club cut ties with Kim.

The court refused to issue the writ on the grounds that the two figures were not a flight risk and were not likely to destroy evidence. Both are being accused of taking bribes from a coffee chain in exchange for helping the company sign a sponsorship deal with the Tigers.

Jang was dismissed in March last year due to a different set of accusations. On Sunday, the Tigers suspended Kim from his duties, after learning that Kim had faced questioning from prosecutors
over bribery charges.

Prosecutors in Seoul applied for an arrest warrant for Kim and Jang on Monday. Within hours, the Tigers terminated their contract with Kim. The 50-year-old was entering the final season of his three-year contract worth 1.05 billion won (US$789,240).

Kim spent his entire 14-year playing career with the Tigers, from 1996 to 2009, and served as a coach for the club for another decade before taking the managerial reins.

Jang was dismissed in March last year for allegedly demanding a kickback from a free agent player during contract talks. And during their investigation into Jang’s case, prosecutors noticed other suspicious transactions involving both Jang and Kim.

Neither Kim nor Jang spoke to the media before and after attending the hearing on their arrest warrants at the Seoul court.

Jang was sacked only two days before the start of the regular season last year. Then this year, the Tigers dismissed their skipper with spring training just around the corner, the time of year when player
s are usually upbeat and hopeful about a fresh start.

Instead, Tigers players mostly cut solemn figures Tuesday afternoon at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, as they prepared to head Down Under. Captain Na Sung-bum said he’d told his teammates that they should keep their focus on things that they can control.

“I told the guys that we shouldn’t be distracted by this and we have to keep sticking to our routines,” Na said. “We have our fans behind us and we have high expectations going into the new season. Our job now is to train as hard as we can.”

Na, however, admitted that the vibe on the team bus to the airport wasn’t great.

“Spring training marks the start of a new season, and this is like a New Year’s Day for baseball players. We used to greet each other with smiles,” Na said. “I tried to make sure we wouldn’t get too down on ourselves today, but it hasn’t been easy.”

Starting pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong, a longtime staff ace and a beloved franchise icon, called on his teammates to hold their
heads high.

“We should all remember what we’re trying to accomplish this season and concentrate on our training,” Yang added.

Kim became the first active KBO manager to face a criminal investigation on corruption suspicions. This is just the kind of dubious history no KBO team wants to make, especially a club as widely beloved as the Tigers.

Based in the southwestern city of Gwangju, the Tigers have won more Korean Series championships than any team in KBO history with 11. Some recent dips in attendance figures notwithstanding, the Tigers have long been one of the most popular clubs in the league. Their fans are known to travel well and turn road games into de facto home games for the Tigers with their boisterous cheering.

In 2022, their first season under Kim, the Tigers made it to the wild card game with a record of 70-73-1 (wins-losses-ties), a 12-win jump from 2021, but lost to the KT Wiz.

They had an even better regular season record in 2023, going 73-69-2, but finished a game back of the Doosan Bea
rs for the final postseason spot.

During this offseason, the Tigers signed two former major league pitchers, Wil Crowe and James Naile, to be their new foreign starters, after finishing the 2023 season with Thomas Pannone and Mario Sanchez. The Tigers haven’t received strong performances from their foreign hurlers since Aaron Brooks and Drew Gagnon were manning the rotation in 2020, and they have high expectations for the new duo. The Tigers retained outfielder Socrates Brito to round out their foreign trio for 2024.

In addition, they re-signed their own free agent, infielder Kim Sun-bin, while giving a former regular season most valuable player, Seo Geon-chang, a second chance in his hometown after the 34-year-old hit a rough patch during a three-year stint with the LG Twins. The Tigers also gave designated hitter Choi Hyoung-woo, the KBO’s career RBI leader, a new two-year deal after a productive season by the 40-year-old.

With a good mix of young talent and seasoned veterans up and down their roster, th
e Tigers were seen as a postseason contender this year. But they have now become a team in disarray, having to find a new manager before the start of spring training.

The 2024 regular season will begin on March 23.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, A Seoul court on Tuesday rejected arrest warrants for two former managers of South Korea’s Kia Tigers professional baseball team over bribery charges.

The Seoul Central District Court made the decision following a hearing attended by Kim Jong-kook, former manager of the baseball team, and Jang Jung-suk, former general manager of the same team.

There seem to be no concerns about the possible destruction of evidence and no need for their arrest for investigations, a court judge said.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors office sought the warrants last Wednesday to arrest them.

It marks the first arrest warrant sought for a sitting professional baseball team manager on corruption suspicions.

They appeared for the hearing at the court in the morning but remained tight-lipped in the face of reporters’ questions.

Kim and Jang are suspected of receiving 100 million won (US$75,200) and tens of millions of won, respectively, from a coffee chain in return for helping the business sign a sponsorship deal
with the Kia Tigers. Jang is additionally accused of asking a free agent player for a kickback during salary negotiations last year.

Following a two-hour hearing, they were again confronted with reporters asking numerous questions about their criminal charges and intentions to apologize, but neither of them said a single word.

The Tigers terminated their deal with Kim on Monday and Jang was fired from the team last year.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, South Korean international and Asian Games gold medalist Paik Seung-ho has joined Birmingham City FC in the second-tier English football league.

The club in the English Football League (EFL) Championship announced Monday (local time) that Paik has agreed to a deal that will keep him at St. Andrew’s until June 2026.

England will be the third European stop for the 26-year-old midfielder.

Paik is a product of FC Barcelona’s youth academy, though he only made two appearances for their B team before moving over to another Spanish side, Girona.

After splitting time between Girona and their reserve squad, Paik hopped over to Germany to play for Darmstadt 98 in the second-tier Bundesliga from 2019 to 2021.

Paik then signed for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in South Korea’s K League 1 in March 2021. Over his three seasons here, he won the K League 1 title in 2021 and the FA Cup title the following year.

Paik earned his first cap in 2019 and has 15 caps so far. He scored South Korea’s lone goal in their 4-1 loss
to Brazil in the round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Last fall, Paik was captain for the under-24 South Korean team as an overage player at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, and helped the country to their third consecutive gold medal.

“I am really, really happy to be part of this club and this team. I am really excited. I can’t wait to start,” Paik said in an interview posted on Birmingham City’s website. “Since I was young and I started to watch football, one of my dreams was to come to England to play football. When I heard Birmingham was interested in me, I was really happy.”

Paik, who will wear No. 13, said he decided to join Birmingham after meeting their bench boss Tony Mowbray.

“I have been in many countries, and one of the most important things for me was the relationship with the manager,” Paik said. “Speaking with him, I felt really comfortable, and he motivated me to come here. It was the biggest reason I came here.”

Paik is the third South Korean player to arrive at St. Andrew
‘s, joining two women’s national team mainstays, Cho So-hyun and Choe Yu-ri, who are playing with Birmingham City Women FC.

In the ongoing season, Birmingham City are in 20th place among 24 EFL Championship clubs with 32 points from eight wins, eight draws and 12 losses.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

INCHEON, Unceremoniously dumped by a team he’d played with for over two decades, new Hanwha Eagles outfielder Kim Kang-min said Tuesday he harbors no hard feelings toward his former club.

The 41-year-old insisted he is only focused on helping his downtrodden team climb up the standings in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

In November, the SSG Landers left Kim off their 35-man protected list for the KBO’s “secondary draft,” in which other teams can claim any player not on that list. Older players seen to be on the downhill of their careers are often left exposed, and the Landers assumed that Kim, who only batted .226 in 70 games in 2023, would not be picked up by anyone. The Landers instead protected their younger prospects, but then the Eagles swooped in and drafted Kim to be the sage leader for their young outfield corps.

Landers fans were up in arms over the club’s poor handling of the well-respected Kim, who made his KBO debut with the Landers franchise in 2002 when they were the SK Wyverns under
different ownership. The situation eventually led to general manager Kim Sung-yong being stripped of his duties.

In 1,919 career games, Kim Kang-min has a .274 lifetime batting average with 138 home runs and 674 RBIs. Among active players, Kim ranks ninth in games played. He won five Korean Series titles with the Wyverns/Landers and was voted the series MVP in 2022.

Kim contemplated retirement but decided to extend his career with the Eagles. And on Tuesday, before departing for spring training in Australia, Kim spoke to the media for the first time since the controversial draft.

“I lost sleep last night, thinking about what kind of questions I’d get here,” the gregarious Kim said with a smile at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. “I am sorry that I made you guys wait for so long. I appreciate your patience.”

Kim said he didn’t have much time to think of anything other than helping the Eagles over the offseason.

“I am a professional baseball player, and my focus has been on baseball,” Kim said
. “I’ve been thinking about ways to help this team on the field. So I started working out early. I am excited about playing for the new team. The uniform felt a little strange at first, but I think I should get used to it in no time.”

The Eagles have not been to the postseason since 2018, and that was their first trip to the playoffs in 11 years. Since 2019, the Eagles ranked ninth, 10th, 10th, 10th and ninth in the 10-team KBO. Kim said he was determined to change the narrative.

“I will do everything in my power to put this team back on track,” Kim said. “I will try to help the team first as a ball player and then think about my role as a veteran in the clubhouse.”

Kim also took the opportunity to thank Landers fans.

“I will never forget the time I spent with that team,” Kim said. “I am still a huge fan of the SSG ball club. They still have guys that I’ve played with for a long time. I don’t have hard feelings toward that team.”

Kim donned No. 0 on his back for most of his Landers career but has switche
d to No. 9 with the Eagles.

“I felt No. 0 would be something that Landers fans would remember me by, and I wanted Eagles fans to see a different number on my back,” Kim said. “I chose No. 9 because it’s similar with 0 and I wanted a single-digit number. I wore No. 9 before on the national team and so I was a bit familiar with it.”

Kim said he wouldn’t mind spending time in the minor league as long as it’s for the right reasons.

“If I end up in the minors, it will be one of the two reasons,” Kim said. “It will be either because the young guys will play so well that the team no longer needs me, or because I am just playing terribly. I hope it’s the former.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Kim Jong-kook, former manager of the Kia Tigers professional baseball team, and Jang Jung-suk, former general manager of the same team, attended a court hearing Tuesday on arrest warrants requested for them last week on bribery charges.

They appeared for the hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in the morning but remained tight-lipped in the face of reporters’ questions.

Kim and Jang are suspected of receiving 100 million won (US$75,200) and tens of millions of won, respectively, from a coffee chain in return for helping the business sign a sponsorship deal with the Kia Tigers. Jang is additionally accused of asking a free agent player for a kickback during salary negotiations last year.

Following a two-hour hearing, they were again confronted with reporters asking numerous questions about their criminal charges and intentions to apologize, but neither of them said a single word.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office requested pretrial detention warrants for them last Wednesday, and
the Tigers terminated their contract with Kim on Monday. Jang was fired by the Tigers in March last year.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

INCHEON, With the LG Twins having ended their 29-year title drought in South Korean baseball, captain Oh Ji-hwan says he feels the weight of a champion.

“This position comes with a lot of responsibilities,” Oh told reporters at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday before departing for the Twins’ spring training in Arizona. “I won’t be complacent. I will keep doing my thing, and also look for what my teammates and my team need from me.”

Oh, who won the most valuable player in the Korea Series as the Twins beat the KT Wiz in five games, said his team should be in good shape to repeat as the champions thanks to a series of rule changes.

Following in the footsteps of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) will ban infield shifts this year. Four infielders must have at least one foot in the infield dirt, with at least two infielders on either side of the second base.

This will put a premium on range for middle infielders, and Oh and his double play partner, Shin Min-jae, are bo
th considered strong defenders up the middle. And because the shift ban will prevent teams from moving an infielder into the grass as a fourth outfielder, the three outfielders have to be on their own. The Twins have two of the very best in the KBO with center fielder Park Hae-min and right fielder Hong Chang-ki.

“We have players with great range on defense,” Oh said. “Our up-the-middle defense is pretty stout with Hae-min, Min-jae and myself. I think the rule change will help us.”

Former Twins captain Kim Hyun-soo said the shift ban will help him at the plate. Kim is a pull-heavy left-handed batter, precisely the type of player that the shift ban is designed to aid. An extra defender on the right side of the field would rob players like Kim of what would otherwise be a base hit, hurting their batting average in the process.

Kim had 143 hits last season, his fewest total in 10 years.

“When I hit the ball well and they still turned into outs, I found myself becoming a bit passive at the plate,” Kim said. ”
With this ban on shifts, I think I will feel a lot more relaxed.”

Park Hae-min, one of many speedsters for the team, could benefit from another rule change for 2024 — bigger bases.

As the bases will go from 15 square inches to 18 square inches in size, the number of steals is expected to increase in the KBO, as was the case in MLB when it enlarged its bases in 2023.

“Obviously, this will help base stealers, but opposing pitchers and catchers will also try hard to get us out,” said Park, who swiped 26 bags in 38 attempts last year. “I’ll be running more often this year and hopefully, I will have a better rate of success, too.”

Kim and Park, two of the team’s elder statesmen at 36 and 33, respectively, said defending the title will be more difficult than winning for the first time in nearly 30 years.

“The moment we become too full of ourselves, we will fall to last place. Defending is tougher than getting to the top,” Kim said. “We have to be even better than last year to repeat as the champion. During sp
ring training, I will be talking to younger guys about just how much stronger we have to be and we can be,”

Park said the Twins will have the bull’s-eye on their back.

“If we struggle even just a bit, we’ll be hearing whispers about how we’re worse than last year,” Park said. “We have to be able to overcome that kind of adversity.”

Oh offered a more upbeat outlook, saying the Twins’ depth will come in handy following the departure of closer Go Woo-suk to the San Diego Padres and the loss of setup man Ham Deok-ju to a long-term injury.

“We had 42 come-from-behind wins last year, and it was possible because our backup guys came through,” he said. “I think you will get a better sense of our depth this year. We have guys who really want to step into some of the roster holes, and it will foster good internal competition.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency