Regarding the controversy that professional baseball players who participated as the Korean national team during the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) were drunk at entertainment establishments in Japan, Kim Kwang-hyeon (35, SSG Landers), Lee Yong-chan (34, NC Dinos), and Jeong Cheol-won (24, Doosan Bears) ) admitted to being the party and apologized.
On the afternoon of the 1st, Kim Gwang-hyun met reporters at the dugout ahead of the Samsung Lions match at SSG Landers Field in Incheon and said, “I am one of the parties to the drinking scandal. He is here to apologize for his unsavory behavior during the WBC.”
He said, “As a veteran, my thoughts were short. He really regrets not being able to control my actions. I also want to say sorry to the juniors who were involved with me,” he bowed his head.
“I wanted to apologize as soon as possible after the related facts were known, but I had to look at the situation of other teams. I am sorry for belatedly apologizing today,” he apologized, saying, “I apologize not only to the national team, but also to all the coaching staff, teammates, and fans of my team for my thoughtless action during the international competition.”
Finally, he added, “The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is currently investigating, and we will faithfully accept the results of the investigation.”
According to Kim Gwang-hyun’s statement to the KBO through the club, on the night of March 7, when he moved to Tokyo, the venue of the tournament, after training for the national team in Osaka, Japan, he drank while eating at an entertainment bar with a local acquaintance. He also started against Japan (March 10), which was the second match of Group B, and after the match (4-13 loss), he visited the bar again with his high school junior Cheol-Won Jeong and drank.
Lee Yong-chan met with reporters at Changwon NC Park, where the Doosan Bears home game was held that day and said, “I had dinner with an acquaintance at a Korean restaurant in Tokyo the day before the break during the tournament (March 10), moved to a nearby pub and stayed for about two hours. After that, I went home right away. Regardless of the reason, I deeply regret drinking during the international convention.”
Lee Yong-chan said that he only ran into Kim Gwang-hyeon and Jeong Cheol-won by chance at this bar, and that the three of them did not talk separately.
Jung Cheol-won, who was revealed to have been drinking with Kim Kwang-hyun, said, “I bow my head and apologize. I had a drink after the match against Japan on March 10 during the WBC tournament. I am ashamed of my careless behavior that has no excuse.”
Jeong Cheol-won explained, “The woman (employee) was never around, and I ended up at around 2:30 in the morning.”
Source: Donga
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