Former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang was suspended for one year by the Korea Baseball Organization on Monday for multiple drunken driving offenses.
Kang, 33, also was ordered to complete 300 hours of community service during Monday's hearing, which he did not attend because he is in the United States. Attorney Kim Sun-woong represented Kang, telling the Yonhap News Agency that his client is "extremely sorry to have caused trouble and that he would keep giving back to the community."
His suspension will begin once he signs with a KBO team. The Kiwoom Heroes, for whom he played during his last season in the league in 2014 when they were the Nexen Heroes, still own his rights. A team official told the Yonhap News Agency that it was "premature" to discuss Kang's future, indicating that Kang had not yet contacted the club. Kiwoom would have to give Kang permission to sign with another team in the league.
Kang, who was released by the Pirates last year after four seasons with the team, applied for reinstatement to the KBO from the league's voluntary retired list last week. He issued an apology through the Leeco Sports Agency, which represents him, following the KBO's ruling Monday.
"Over time, I came to realize just how important baseball is to me," Kang said, according to the Yonhap News Agency. "I took putting on a uniform and getting on the field for granted, and I was a fool not to see how precious that was. I know I don't deserve to be saying this, but I would love one final opportunity to play baseball."
In 2016, while with the Pirates, Kang was arrested for DUI for the third time in South Korea. He received an eight-month suspended prison sentence in March 2017 after he left the scene of an accident in Seoul on Dec. 2, 2016.
The Pirates said in 2016 that they were unaware of his previous DUI offenses in 2009 and 2011 before signing him in 2015. In 2017 he entered a voluntary treatment program. He missed the 2017 season after being unable to receive a work visa to return to the United States.
Kang played in the KBO from 2006 through '14, hitting .298 with 139 home runs and 545 RBIs. He hit .254 with 46 homers and 144 RBIs with the Pirates.