Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang was arrested in South Korea today after a car crash that reportedly occurred under the influence of alcohol, according to Jee-ho Yoo of Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. Yoo cites Gangnam Police Station in Seoul in reporting that Kang “was booked for fleeing the scene after crashing into a guard rail on his way to his hotel,” further adding that an unnamed passenger in the car first attempted to take responsibility by claiming that he or she was the driver. Korean police, however, investigated the car’s black box and found Kang to be the driver, at which point he was called in for questioning.
Kang’s blood-alcohol content was 0.084, per the Yonhap report, just over the American legal limit but more noticeably north of South Korea’s legal limit of 0.05. According to Yoo, Kang admitted to the charges upon being questioned. Pirates president Frank Coonelly offered the following statement on the matter, via press release:
“We have been made aware of the very serious charges filed against Jung Ho Kang early Friday morning in Seoul, South Korea. We are extremely disappointed in Jung Ho and in his decision process during this matter. I know first hand how foolish and dangerous it is to drive under the influence and am most thankful that, as we understand it, no one was injured. We will have further comment once we have been able to gather all of the relevant facts and speak with the player.” (For those wondering about Coonelly’s quote, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets that Coonelly was charged with a DUI back in Dec. 2011 and was ordered by a judge to enter a first-time offender program.)
The news itself is troubling on its own, but concerns stemming from this incident are magnified by the fact that this isn’t the first instance of legal trouble for Kang this year. The 29-year-old was accused of sexual assault by a Chicago woman back in early July, and the investigation was still ongoing as of a September update from Andrew Goldstein of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. No charges have been brought forth against Kang in connection with that case, and Goldstein noted in his report that the alleged victim was not cooperating with police investigators. There’s been no resolution reported in that case.
Kang signed a four-year, $11MM contract to join the Pirates on the heels of a massive 2014 season in the Korea Baseball Organization. He’s owed $2.75MM in 2017 and $3MM in 2018, and the Pirates hold a $5.5MM club option with a $250K buyout over Kang for the 2019 campaign.
cars have black boxes now ?
That’s what I was wondering
I just Googled it and apparently it does, and it’s not even really a new technology either.
usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/komando/2014/12/…
I didn’t know either
Actually, most of the cars in Korea have black boxes.
king kang, jeez ima not ever buying a kia if those black boxes are that sensitive.
Two words on this guy
Troublemaker
Two words eh?
That’s one word
That’s one
That’s only one
Isn’t this his 2nd run major offense, or was the thing he was charged with earlier dismissed?
He wasn’t charged the first time, but I would at least still call it an offense.
The guys a ROCK STAR in Korea and with the WBC classic coming up—-it’s a flash in the pan headline…..
Two words. A-hole.
Still one word
A-hole Troublemaker? That’s two words. lol
16 words:
Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow,
– Homer
Jung Ho being a bit too gung ho.
He’s a bit of an idiot, really.
very random question not related – why was jake arrieta not a super 2 player but mike minor was? anyone know?
Segues are for more than transporting mall cops…
Because super 2 is based on service time, and arrieta used to suck on a team that had other options (or at least, they thought they had other options)
Not good
Can they use this as an excuse to terminate his contract or are MLB deals iron clad no matter what you do?
Freese signing looking prescient.
I still like the idea of sending a mediocre prospect to the Mets for Jay Bruce. They can figure out who is worse at 1B, him or Josh Bell and use the other guy in RF.
I’d prefer they find out who’s worse in right and then stick that guy at first.
No matter where they stuck Bruce….Pirates need a new clean up hitter, it seems.
Lefty bat that knows the NL Central and hits 25-30 HR a year. They could (and likely will) do worse.
There is a morals clause in standard contracts – the Rockies tried to use it when Denny Neagle got caught with a prostitute – but it’s pretty hard to wiggle out of them. As we’ve seen with Chapman, Reyes, kang, victims don’t testify and charges are dropped.
well it was nice in Pittsburgh while it lasted jung ho….
The tattoo of himself on his leg, paired with his legal troubles make me believe he has a pretty massive ego.
Lol
He’s a good player but seemingly a nightmarish human being off the field.
Potentially a pattern forming yes
He needs to go. If you have no regard for the law no matter what country then as far as I’m concerned you are putting yourself ahead of your team. Bye bye
Gangnam style?
Couldn’t resist…
Well, it is South Korea. If you go out drinking, really the only rule (if you’re a guy) is that you have to keep up with whoever chooses to drink the most.
And virtually all of the newer cars do have rearview cameras, frontal cameras, and black boxes. Not that the people are necessarily bad drivers, but when it’s appropriate to park on sidewalks, park in the driving lane that is closest to the sidewalk on almost every street, and turn all the nice wide streets into one-lane obstacle courses (all the while driving along to a soundtrack of incessant honking), almost everybody needs a black box, because almost everybody has been part of an accident.
But it does sound like it all adds up to a bit of an egomaniac. Lying to the cops when there’s a black box in the car? Come on. But who can blame him? He’s rich, he’s korean, he’s famous, and he’s NOT a pop music singer. That’s rare.
If you’re rich why don’t you have someone shuttle you around all night and not worry or risk anyone’s lives? I feel like the upper class should get a stiffer penalty for dui’s. I wouldn’t drive at all if I could afford a chauffeur.
Can’t afford a bus pass?
Wait so you’re saying if I’m rich Korean guy who plays baseball in the majors, i could drink and drive like an idiot and drive under the influence. You my friend is piece of sh*t.
So I guess this is doing it Gangnam Style?
In all seriousness, if the league wants to do what’s right Kang will never play in MLB again.
Seems a little drastic there.
Not at all. Scumbags like Kang who make the DECISION to drive drunk don’t belong in MLB.
all hail the mighty TheWestCoastRyan ! His holiness is unmatched!
Im not condoning his actions by any means, but to put it in perspective a .08 blood alcohol level is the equivalent of less than ONE high alcohol content microbrew (11% or higher or one shot of hard liquor) per hour. So its entirely plausible he had just two beers and drove.
The fact that you are defending a guy who drove drunk tells me all I need to know about you. You’re just as bad.
Clearly he was impaired if he’s crashing into guard rails. Let’s just be happy no one was killed by this idiot.
Lol and people think gung has a big ego. Compared to yours kung has the ego of a preist. Dont act like you havent done anything stupid like driving “drunk” he was .084 which in most countries is only .004 above the legal limit.
Im not defending anyone, simply trying to provide a less egregious context for the situation relative to your original post that began with a racist epithet and ended with a condemnation of expulsion from playing in the league altogether.
In my experience, those that make statements like these are doomed to become the very thing they derided.
.02 is the standard equivalent of a shot or a light beer.
Stop worrying about drunk drivers and start worrying about your family members dieing of high cholesterol. Way more likely killer.
The US/England/Canada legal limit of .08 is among the highest in the world. Most places it’s .05 or lower.
Stop worrying about drunk drivers??? Just think about this, I’m 14 and so is my friend, a few years ago his parents were killed by a drunk driver so yeah I think we should worry about drunk drivers that are killing the parents of young children and it’s also extremely hard for the children of the killers because they have to live with it. So before you say don’t worry about drunk drivers again think about what your saying.
US Immigration may have something to say about whether he is welcome, with criminal charges on his record, should that occur.
Here’s the thing. If this guy wasn’t a baseball player and say he was applying for an ordinary work visa in the US he would be denied based on the DUI. You can’t get into Canada if you’re an average Joe and have a DUI. How would he play games in Toronto (if there was a game) without an exemption?
Why the hell is it different for baseball players or people in the entertainment industry? Double standards for the rich and famous.
That is interesting. Miguel Cabrera has a DUI. Tony Larussa does as well. St. Louis probably didn’t travel to Toronto often, but Detroit plays a couple series there every year. I wonder how they work around that? I’ve never heard of anyone with a DUI getting into Canada. They take it really seriously.
Give the guy a chance. He didn’t even rape anyone this time.
Well I guess he’s taking very small steps towards being a decent person.
Ohhhh. So that’s where Gangnam Style came from…
I’m just warning you know, a bunch of people are going to call you racist.
It’s just Lockeroom Talk.
I never said I thought it was racist.
The general thought is that black boxes are mostly used on air planes and such… Weird…
He was driving GANGNAM STYLE!
This limit of 0.05 is rediculous. You can drink a glass of milk and eat some fruits, like orange and banana, and have more than 0.05 in your blood.