Kim Ha-sung (28, San Diego), who submitted the complaint, did not attend the Ilgu Award ceremony.
Kim Ha-sung was scheduled to receive a special contribution award at the 2023 Nutri Day Ilgu Award ceremony held at Hotel Rivera in southern Seoul on Tuesday. However, Kim Ha-sung did not attend the ceremony.
Kim Ha-sung filed a complaint against Lim Hye-dong, a former junior player, for blackmail. Before moving to the Major League, Kim Ha-sung had an argument with Lim at a drinking party and the latter even got into a physical fight, and Kim Ha-sung paid the settlement money to settle the situation. The settlement money reportedly reached 400 million won (348,400 U.S. dollars). 슬롯머신
In his first year in the Major League, Kim Ha-sung hired Lim as an assistant training officer and lived together in the U.S. However, he filed a complaint against Lim on charges of racketeering and intimidation as he constantly demanded money and valuables. He appeared at the police station on June 6 and completed investigation of the complainant. Based on this, the police started investigation.
Lim Hye-dong appeared on a YouTube channel on the 7th and claimed that Kim Ha-sung habitually assaulted her. Contrary to Kim Ha-sung’s claim that the agreement has been reached, he is constantly assaulted after the agreement and should receive additional settlement money. This is a completely rejected argument from Kim Ha-sung’s position.
Kim Ha-sung, who started his professional career by joining Kiwoom after being selected in the second third round (29th) of the 2014 rookie draft, played as Korea’s best shortstop in the KBO League with a batting average of 294 (940 hits in 3195 at-bats) with 133 home runs, 575 RBIs, 606 runs, and 134 stolen bases.
Kim Ha-sung, who challenged to advance to the Major League through posting after the 2020 season, achieved his dream of entering the big league by signing a two-year guarantee contract of 28 million U.S. dollars with San Diego. Although he struggled a bit in his first year since debut, he had his best season this year, batting .266 (140 hits in 538 at-bats) with 17 homers, 60 RBIs, 84 runs, and 38 steals with an OPS of .749. In defense, he also showed top-class defense in infield positions excluding first baseman, and succeeded in winning the Gold Glove Award in the utility category of the National League. He became the first Korean to win the Gold Glove Award and the first Asian infielder to win the Gold Glove Award.
However, the recent controversy forced Kim Ha-sung to end the year-end ceremony bitterly.