KIA's Jang Jeongseok and Kim Jongkook Acquitted Again in Second Trial for Multi-Million Won Bribery Charges

Second Trial: "Doubts Remain About Moral and Legal Justification"

Jang Jeongseok, former general manager of the KIA Tigers, and Kim Jongkook, former manager, who were tried on charges of receiving large sums of illicit money from a sponsor, were acquitted in the second trial following their acquittal in the first trial.

Jang Jeongseok, former general manager of the Kia Tigers, who is accused of receiving hundreds of millions of won in money and valuables from a club sponsor, is attending a warrant hearing on the 30th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jinhyung aymsdream@

On the 29th, the 13th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Baek Kangjin) delivered a not-guilty verdict to both Jang and Kim, who were indicted on charges including breach of trust and bribery, upholding the decision of the first trial. The not-guilty verdict was also maintained for Kim, the former manager, who was indicted for breach of trust and bribery, and for Kim, the head of a coffee company, who was charged with bribery.

The court stated, "While there are serious doubts as to whether the actions of Jang Jeongseok and Kim Jongkook were morally or legally justifiable, the appellate court agrees with the lower court's judgment that, at the very least, the criminal liability for breach of trust and bribery as indicted by the prosecutor does not stand."

The court further explained, "Looking at the conversations in this case, Jang Jeongseok repeatedly made demands related to receiving money, and Park, the player, avoided these requests to the extent that he recorded and reported them. Therefore, it is difficult to conclude that Park was making any requests or lobbying to Jang." The court added, "The KBO regulations are internal rules of a corporation, and even if negotiations violating these rules took place, it is difficult to impose criminal penalties. Moreover, according to the facts of this case, there was no actual free agent (FA) negotiation."

The court also found that regarding the payment of 160 million won by Kim, "Kim provided the money not to make a request, but purely from the position of a sponsor."

Jang and Kim were indicted without detention in October 2022 on charges of receiving 100 million won together in return for facilitating an advertising contract at the request of Kim. Kim, the former manager, was also charged with receiving 60 million won in July of the same year in return for providing convenience regarding a player uniform sleeve advertising contract.

Jang was also indicted on charges of attempting to solicit 200 million won from Park Dongwon (currently with the LG Twins), a catcher who was about to enter FA negotiations between May and August 2022, by promising that he could secure at least 1.2 billion won as a signing bonus for him. However, he was refused and the attempt was unsuccessful.

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