In November 2019, Jang Jeong-seok (50), a ‘baseball man’, received support and comfort.
because it looked like an underdog. At the time, Kiwoom Heroes did not renew the contract with ‘director’ Jang Jeong-seok, who led the team to runner-up in the Korean Series (KS). It was practically rigid.
The aftershock was fierce. The complex governance structure unique to the club was highlighted, and speculation emerged that the management at the time, including chairman Heo Min, appointed a different leader to supervise.
As the controversy grew, the club expressed its position that the controversy over the’prison management’ of former CEO Lee Jang-seok, who was imprisoned for Lee embezzlement and breach of trust, affected the manager’s personnel. At the time the controversy arose, Jang Jeong-seok revealed that there was an interview with former CEO Lee. It means that he did not renew the contract in order to prevent possible problems later.
Previously, there was a rumor that the ‘invisible hand’ worked in the management of the Kiwoom club. Aside from that reality, most baseball fans saw Jang Jeong-seok as a ‘scapegoat’.
Now, after 3 years and 4 months, the dominant view is that Jang Jeong-seok is a person who can simulate sufficiently abnormal decision-making.
Last year, he was accused of negotiating an extension contract with reserve FA (free agent) Park Dong-won in his capacity as the KIA general manager, and demanding money and valuables in return on the premise that the contract was concluded in the process. Park Dong-won’s side sent a recording of the conversation to the club and it was known.
Jang Jeong-seok, the party involved, explained that he was only joking as a device for smooth negotiations. However, everyone who listened to the transcript judges that he was sincere in asking for ‘back money’.
Jang Jeong-seok, who was unknown as a player, showed a story of a positional battle to rise to the manager. After he left Kiwoom, he also served as a commentator. At the end of 2021, when the trend of appointing a former baseball player as the general manager was continuing, KIA, which was aiming for a team renewal, chose such Jang Jeong-seok as the new general manager. The fact that he raised his son as a prospect for the Korean baseball team was also a factor that could appeal. He was a fairly recognized baseball player. he was likable
So, the shock of this back money scandal is not just a joke. The sense of betrayal experienced by baseball fans is bound to be greater. There are too many points that are difficult to understand in common sense, so doubts continue to bite the tail. 스포츠토토
Immediately after Jang Jeong-seok took office as KIA general manager, we will look back at the contracts with Yang Hyeon-jong and Na Seong-beom, who took the lead. There is a situation in which Park Dong-won tried to make a hundred margins from a down payment of billions of dollars at a time. Yang Hyeon-jong’s down payment was 3 billion won (2.5 billion won in annual salary, 4.8 billion won in options), and Na Seong-beom was 6 billion won (6 billion won in annual salary, 3 billion won in options).
The Athletes Association said there was no additional report that Jang Jeong-seok or anyone else was asking for money back. However, it cannot be guaranteed that such cases have not occurred. Park Dong-won borrowed the mouth of Jang Dong-chul, secretary general of the Athletes Association, and said, “I wanted to correct the wrong practice.” The word custom means ‘doing what has been done in society for a long time’. Even if it’s the first time he’s experienced it, it can be said that the pre-knowledge that ‘this could happen’ was at the base. In other words, there is room for interpretation that there have been cases where not only Jang Jeong-seok, but also front-line managers or those with decision-making rights have unfairly used it quite often.