KT’s Hwang Jae-gyun expressed anger towards the Hanwha Eagles team after the game, which has sparked controversy. His wife, T-ara’s Jiyeon, is facing backlash as a result
On June 5th, at Suwon KT Wiz Park, the 8th match of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League between KT Wiz and Hanwha Eagles took place, where Hanwha secured a 12-2 victory, achieving a winning series.
However, after the game, an incident involving KT players occurred. The issue began in the bottom of the 8th inning when Hanwha’s Park Sang-won’s strikeout ceremony, despite Hanwha’s large lead, provoked KT. KT’s Jang Sung-woo and others expressed their displeasure immediately. Hanwha’s pitching coach Park Seung-min, along with Ryu Hyun-jin, conveyed apologies to the KT bench to resolve the matter.
Nevertheless, after the game ended, Hwang Jae-gyun came out to the field and gestured for Park Sang-won to come over, unable to contain his anger, which led to a confrontation. The bench-clearing was eventually settled by intervention from both teams’ managers and veteran players. However, baseball fans’ anger unexpectedly turned towards Jiyeon.
Some netizens have flooded Jiyeon’s SNS and YouTube with negative comments. Criticisms included “Warn your husband properly“, “Professionals should act professionally” and “Your husband needs to manage his temper.“
There were also voices calling for restraint. Comments such as “Why take out anger on an unrelated person?“, “It’s chaos on the player’s wife’s SNS” and “I hope those who left malicious comments get sued” showed support for Jiyeon.
Meanwhile, Jiyeon married baseball player Hwang Jae-gyun in December 2022.
