Kim Kwang-hyun (35-SSG), Lee Yong-chan (34-NC), and Jeong Chul-won (24-DUSAN) have been punished with community service and fines for drinking alcohol at a Japanese nightclub during the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).

The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) held a punishment committee on July 7 and decided to punish Kim Kwang-hyun with 80 hours of community service and a fine of 5 million won for drinking twice, and Lee Yong-chan and Jung Chul-won with 40 hours of community service and a fine of 3 million won each for drinking once.

The KBO investigated the facts following media reports that the players drank alcohol at a Tokyo nightclub during the WBC, which resulted in the team’s worst-ever performance, and confirmed that Kim Kwang-hyun went to the establishment twice after midnight on March 7, when the team arrived in Tokyo, and on March 11, shortly after the end of the game against Japan on the 10th. Lee Yong-chan and Chung Chul-won were found to have consumed alcohol on one occasion each.

After hearing the results of the investigation and the testimony of the three players, the punishment committee decided on the level of 토토사이트 discipline based on Article 151 of the KBO Baseball Regulations (Impairment of Dignity). This article allows for sanctions such as disqualification, suspension, suspension from participation, suspension from traveling, imposition of fines, and warnings to be imposed on players who engage in behavior that impairs dignity outside of the game and causes social harm.

The KBO said, “We deeply apologize for the lack of management of the national team players. We will thoroughly prepare and strive to prevent the same thing from happening again by further refining the national team operating regulations.” The three players who appeared before the penalty committee said, “We accept the outcome of the penalty committee. We apologize for the trouble we caused,” they said, bowing their heads.

At the 2023 WBC, South Korea lost 7-8 to lowly Australia and 4-13 to Japan, failing to qualify for the second round, which is reserved for the top two teams in Group B. The team returned home and was criticized by fans.