On the Night of the 27th When Chairman Shin Dong-bin Visited Jamsil Stadium, He Appeared Again in the Clubhouse
"It's Not That We Are on Bad Terms... I Will Foster the Baseball Scene for Better Baseball" Determination
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Jeong Yong-jin, vice chairman of Shinsegae Group and owner of the professional baseball team SSG Landers, has once again provoked Lotte. He strongly expressed his intention to expand the competition by engaging in friendly rivalry with Lotte, the "eternal distribution rival," even in baseball.
On the night of the 27th, Vice Chairman Jeong mentioned Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin's visit to the baseball stadium on the social media platform Clubhouse, saying, "Dong-bin hyung (Chairman Shin Dong-bin) never came to the baseball stadium in his life, but he came because I provoked Lotte."
Chairman Shin, who is the owner of the Lotte Giants, visited Jamsil Stadium in Seoul that afternoon to watch the game between the Lotte Giants and the LG Twins. This visit was his first to a baseball stadium in about six years since the game against the Samsung Lions held at Busan Sajik Stadium on September 11, 2015.
Vice Chairman Jeong said, "Has Lotte Department Store or Lotte Mart ever held events related to the opening or baseball games?" and added, "They follow everything I do." He continued, "Dong-bin hyung must have thought, 'This can't go on,' so he came," and said, "I have become someone who has had a really good influence on Lotte." Regarding Chairman Shin leaving the stadium around the 7th inning of the game, Vice Chairman Jeong said, "If you like baseball, you don't leave," and repeated, "If Chairman Shin liked baseball, he wouldn't have stayed away from the stadium for so long."
Vice Chairman Jeong stated that he will invest more in SSG Landers and provoke the Lotte Giants even more. He said, "I will keep provoking. It seems Lotte is uncomfortable when I provoke them, but better policies come out when they are uncomfortable. I will keep making Lotte uncomfortable so that they play better baseball."
Earlier, on the 30th of last month and the 2nd of this month, Vice Chairman Jeong also made provocative remarks toward Lotte through Clubhouse. He criticized Lotte for "not being able to connect their main business (distribution) with baseball," and said, "We (Shinsegae) will connect our main business with baseball. They (Lotte) will have to follow us reluctantly."
When some fans asked him to tone down his strong remarks that day as well, Vice Chairman Jeong replied, "It's not that I have a bad relationship with Lotte," and added, "I want the baseball scene to grow bigger through this kind of rivalry."
He named the teams he most wants to beat as the Lotte Giants and the Kiwoom Heroes. Vice Chairman Jeong said, "Lotte is a fated rival, and I want to win against Kiwoom because there was a matter that hurt my pride during the process of trying to acquire their baseball team."
Meanwhile, Chairman Shin, who visited the stadium that day, delivered Korean beef sets to the homes of each player after the game to wish for the players' success. Earlier, on the 4th of this month, Vice Chairman Jeong had gifted Korean beef to players Choi Joo-hwan and Choi Jeong, who were the heroes of the opening game victory, under the name "Yong-jin hyung Award."
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