KT Wiz’s Choi Byeong-dae (28) has addressed the bullying controversy head-on.
He started at second base against the Doosan Bears in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on April 17 and went 3-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.
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 remarks afterwards,” he said, revealing that he had given the juniors an earful in high school.
The informant claimed that the placement team’s behavior was not just hazing, but bullying. He has been actively reporting 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 the player’s 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 plan to contact the party through an agent in the future,” he said, explaining the current situation. 메이저사이트
A KT representative said, “We are working to apologize and settle with the junior who was harassed. He explained that he did not personally harass the junior, but was forced to do so 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 still trying, so please be patient,” 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.
They have already offered to testify on his behalf.