Ex-KBO club GM banned for life over bribery allegations

Jang Jun-suk, former general manager of the Kia Tigers, attends the interrogation at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, Jan. 30, 2024. Korea Times file

Former Kia Tigers general manager Jang Jun-suk was slapped with a lifetime ban by the league Wednesday over bribery allegations, despite being acquitted of those charges last year.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) imposed the penalty on Jang following its disciplinary committee meeting on Monday.

Along with Jang, former Tigers skipper Kim Jong-kook received a 50-game ban and was ordered to 80 hours of community service over his own bribery charges.

Jang and Kim were both accused of receiving 100 million won ($68,100) from the CEO of a food company in October 2022 in exchange for helping the business sign a sponsorship deal with the Tigers. Kim faced separated charges of receiving 60 million won in exchange for putting the company's logo on the Tigers' uniform.

In October 2024, the Seoul Central District Court found both not guilty, saying the company did not receive any favor from the Tigers and ended up paying more for its advertising than it normally would have. The court added it found no evidence of any preferential treatment offered by the ball club to the company.

However, the KBO still determined that Jang's and Kim's alleged misconduct warranted punishment in baseball because "their inappropriate action severely damaged credibility and integrity of the KBO."

Jang, who had earlier been accused of demanding a kickback from a free agent player during contract negotiations in 2022, got the harsher penalty of the two.

Also on Wednesday, former KBO pitcher Bong Jung-keun, recently hired as a minor league pitching coach for the SSG Landers, was ordered to 40 hours of community service after getting his driver's license revoked for attempting to ride an electric scooter while intoxicated.

The incident happened in November 2021 while Bong was not employed by any KBO team.