Man Who Drank Together Assaulted with Beer Bottle
Jung Says "I Admit My Guilt and Reflect"
The prosecution has requested a sentence of 1 year and 6 months imprisonment for former baseball player Jeong Su-geun (47), who was charged with injuring a man by striking his head with a beer bottle while drinking together.
According to Yonhap News on the 11th, the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office Namyangju Branch requested 1 year and 6 months imprisonment at the sentencing hearing for the defendant Jeong, who was indicted without detention on charges of special injury. Jeong’s lawyer stated, "The defendant admits all the charges and is remorseful," adding, "At the time of the incident, he was taking medication for depression and insomnia, which caused side effects leading to memory loss." In his final statement, Jeong said, "I admit my guilt and am remorseful," and appealed for leniency, saying, "I lost my judgment because I took a lot of medicine."
Jeong first met the victim, Mr. A, on December 21 of last year and drank together. At the time, Jeong was drinking at a pub in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, and suggested going for a third round of drinks to Mr. A. When Mr. A refused, Jeong became enraged and struck Mr. A’s head twice with a beer bottle. As a result, Mr. A sustained a laceration injury to his head.
After the incident, Jeong reportedly sent multiple KakaoTalk messages to Mr. A, saying "I am truly very sorry," "I will accept any punishment," and "Please forgive me just this once." However, Mr. A wants strict punishment for Jeong, so no settlement has been reached. The sentencing hearing for Jeong is scheduled for December 4.
Jeong Su-geun, a graduate of Deoksu Information Industry High School, joined the OB Bears in 1995 and stayed with the team until 2003. After transferring to the Lotte Giants in 2004, he was awarded the MVP of the KBO All-Star Game in 2007. During his playing career, Jeong was involved in several controversies related to violence and drinking. In 2004, in Haeundae, Busan, he swung a baseball bat at a citizen after drinking, resulting in a fine and an indefinite suspension. He was also involved in drunk driving and other alcohol-related incidents, eventually announcing his retirement in September 2009. After retiring, he worked as a baseball commentator.
In 2013, Jeong also ran a designated driver business. At that time, he wrote on his business card, "There are few people like me who have lost everything in life because of alcohol," and "I quit baseball, which I loved and was good at, and had a traffic accident, all because of alcohol." He added, "I started the designated driver service hoping that even if people drink, they won’t make mistakes like I did," which attracted attention.
Later, Jeong was sentenced to 1 year in prison and taken into custody in August 2022 for unlicensed drunk driving. He was tried for driving about 2 km on a road in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, on September 27, 2021, at around 10:50 p.m., without a driver’s license and with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.159%. Previously, Jeong had been charged three times for drunk driving between 2004 and 2016, receiving fines or suspended prison sentences. Notably, he committed the same offense again just three months after receiving a suspended prison sentence for unlicensed drunk driving in June 2020.
Separately from the drinking-related assault case, Jeong is also under investigation by prosecutors without detention for special assault charges after allegedly hitting his wife’s forehead with a golf club while intoxicated at their home around 5 a.m. on January 20. Police responded to a report from Jeong’s wife, Ms. B, and arrested Jeong at the scene. Initially, Ms. B wanted her husband to be punished but later changed her stance, reportedly telling the police she did not want him punished. However, the police applied special assault charges considering the use of a golf club during the incident and the abrasion injury on the victim’s forehead. Special assault is a non-consensual offense, meaning prosecution can proceed even if the victim does not wish for punishment.
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