Arrest warrant sought for Kia Tigers’ manager over bribery charges

SEOUL, Prosecutors have sought arrest warrants for the sitting manager and a former general manager of the Kia Tigers professional baseball team, both on bribery charges, officials said Monday.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors office filed for the warrants last Wednesday to arrest manager Kim Jong-kook and former general manager Jang Jung-suk, the officials said.

The prosecution has been looking into suspicions that Jang, while serving as the team’s general manager, asked a free agent player for a kickback during negotiations with him. Jang was fired from the team last year.

During the investigation, prosecutors confirmed additional criminal suspicions involving Jang, as well as the sitting manager, although the suspicions against Kim are not related with the alleged kickback case.

Prosecutors provided no further details, except that the bribery suspicions against Kim were not related to player recruitment.

His team said the previous day that Kim has been suspended from his duties as manager.

The
Seoul Central District Court is expected to hold a hearing Tuesday to determine whether to grant the warrant requests.

It marks the first arrest warrant sought for a sitting professional baseball team manager on corruption suspicions.

Previously, Kim Jin-young, manager of the now-disbanded Sammi Superstars, was arrested in 1983 on charges of assaulting an umpire during a game, becoming the first-ever sitting professional baseball team manager to be arrested.

Source: Yonhap News Agency