KT Wiz’s Choi Byeong-dae, 28, has addressed the bullying controversy head-on.
He started in center field against the Doosan Bears in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on April 17, going 2-for-5 with a home run, one RBI, and two runs scored. He also made a series of defensive plays to help KT win its fifth straight game.
The outfielder has been hot at the plate lately, batting 2-for-9 (50-for-170) with one home run, 25 RBIs and a .719 OPS in 56 games this season. In his last 10 games, he is 4-for-14 with a double and a home run.토토사이트
The rising star has come under fire after reports that he was bullied in school. Before the game, he posted on his Instagram, “In 2012, when I was a sophomore at Seongnam High School, I participated in a training camp in Taiwan. At that time, there was a group icebreaker led by the seniors in the third grade, and I, the captain of the second grade, gave the juniors in the first grade an icebreaker. I apologized to the juniors afterwards and there were no assaults or abusive words afterwards,” he said.
The whistleblower claimed that Choi’s behavior was not just a joke, but bullying. He is actively taking steps to report the incident to the KBO Clean Baseball Center. However, the KBO responded that they were not in a position to take any action because the incident did not occur after his professional debut.
Manager Lee Kang-cheol also said that he is not in a position to hold the platoon responsible at this point. “We are not in a position to take measures such as excluding him from the roster,” he said in an interview before the game on April 17, adding that he will continue to play.
“I sincerely reflect and regret that I uncritically accepted the bad practices that have been passed down in the athletic department,” said Choi, who confessed to cheating in high school. “We initially tried to apologize to the poster of the article and compensate him as much as possible, but we were unable to reach an agreement, and we will contact the party through an agent in the future,” he explained the current situation.
A KT representative said, “We are working to apologize and reach an agreement with the junior who was kicked. He explained that he didn’t personally harass the junior, but was forced to give him a slap due to the atmosphere of the athletic department at the time. It’s not yet time for an official statement from the club. So far, we have not been able to reach a settlement because the amount of money demanded is too high, but we are continuing to work on it, so please wait a little longer,” he said, emphasizing that he is still willing to apologize to the junior and reach a settlement.
His willingness to come clean about what could have been a label that would have followed him for years to come shows his determination to overcome the controversy. While it’s true that they followed the sports team’s bad habits, they are also confident that there was no personal assault. According to KT officials, a number of juniors who received the patch have already come forward to testify on behalf of Bae.
On the day he revealed that he had been hazed in high school, he played well and led his team to a five-game winning streak. Based on what we know so far, the controversy is unlikely to affect the rest of the season. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the season has in store for the squad, which has shown that it can play at its best in the face of adversity.