Kim Ha-sung Drinking Party Witness: "Hyedong First Said 'Hit It'... They Reconciled and It Ended"

"Claims of Habitual Assault and Shock Over 400 Million Settlement"
Police Detain Im Hyedong on Charges of Extortion and Threats Against Kim Haseong

Kim Ha-sung (28, San Diego Padres), a Major League Baseball player in the United States, is engaged in a dispute over allegations of habitual assault and extortion threats with junior baseball player Lim Hye-dong (27). Meanwhile, a witness who was present at the originally problematic drinking party testified that "there was no one-sided assault."

"A pride battle between men... reconciled and settled on the spot," testimony from an acquaintance who attended the drinking party

Kim Ha-sung (left), who is active in Major League Baseball, and former baseball player Lim Hye-dong (right). [Image source=Captured from TV Chosun news screen]

On the 13th, SBS reported testimony from a domestic professional baseball player A, who was present at the drinking party in February 2021 when Lim Hye-dong claimed he was assaulted by Kim Ha-sung.

Player A explained the situation at the time, saying, "They are really close, so they said things they could only say to close friends, and there was some quarrel between Kim Ha-sung and Lim Hye-dong," adding, "Hye-dong was saying 'Hit me, hit me,' and I was telling him, 'Hey, don’t do that,' trying to stop it."

Player A continued, "As I tried to stop them, things got more heated. I don’t know if Hye-dong was trying to hit me on purpose or if he accidentally hit me while trying to push me away, but I got hit in the face," and added, "When I got hit, Ha-sung said, 'What are you doing?' and the two pushed each other, grabbed each other's collars, and tried to knock each other down."

He further said, "Since they are really close, I felt that neither of them actually hit each other in the face," and explained, "Men have pride battles, right? Close friends don’t really throw punches, so the quarrel was like 'You hit me first'."

However, after the situation calmed down, Lim Hye-dong apologized to Kim Ha-sung first, and they reconciled on the spot, Player A explained.

Player A said, "If it had been a one-sided assault, they would have gone to the hospital, but Hye-dong said, 'Ha-sung hyung, I’m sorry. I crossed the line, sorry,' and Ha-sung also said, 'I’m sorry for speaking too harshly to you.'"

According to Player A, Kim Ha-sung and Lim Hye-dong reconciled, ate together, went to a sauna, and then parted ways. It is known that they left for the United States together two days later.

He added, "I witnessed the scene, and I was surprised to hear that this was called habitual assault or that a large sum of 400 million won was agreed upon," and speculated, "After hearing the story about threats related to military service, it seems Ha-sung gave the settlement money to avoid controversy just before moving to the U.S."

Truth dispute over 'habitual assault and extortion threats'... Police impose travel ban on Lim Hye-dong

Earlier, Kim Ha-sung filed a complaint with the police on the 6th, stating that in February 2021 at a bar in Gangnam, Seoul, he got into a physical fight with junior baseball player Lim Hye-dong and was continuously asked for settlement money afterward.

On the other hand, Lim Hye-dong claimed through YouTube broadcasts on the 7th that "while working as Kim Ha-sung’s manager in the U.S., I was continuously assaulted."

In response, Kim Ha-sung, through his legal representative, released a statement saying, "The other player (Lim Hye-dong) exploited Kim Ha-sung’s status as a soldier in 2021 to threaten and demand money under the name of settlement money, and Kim Ha-sung paid the money on the condition that there would be no direct or indirect contact or any disadvantageous acts."

They also added that Lim Hye-dong violated the agreement and that Kim Ha-sung filed a criminal complaint to prevent further damage.

The police imposed a travel ban on Lim Hye-dong on the 12th and plan to summon and investigate the accused Lim Hye-dong soon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.