*This content was translated by AI.
It has been confirmed that employees of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) were ordered by the Sports Ethics Center, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, to face severe disciplinary action on charges of workplace harassment and human rights violations. As societal attitudes toward workplace harassment have recently strengthened across the board, the involvement of a senior executive at KBO, South Korea's largest professional sports organization, has sparked widespread concern.
According to sources in the baseball community, A, the CEO of KBOP, a marketing subsidiary of the KBO, submitted his resignation on the 10th. Having joined the KBO in 2000 and held key positions including Hong Bo (Team Lead), head of the operations team, head of the development team, and director of baseball In Jae-gae-bal (Team Lead), A was appointed as CEO of KBOP in January this year but announced his resignation amid the fallout from the current incident.
The case came to light following a report by an internal KBO employee. C, currently employed at the KBO, reported to the Sports Ethics Center that they had suffered human rights violations, including illegal surveillance and defamation, at the hands of A and another KBO employee, B, in the past. C alleged that A and B had unauthorizedly accessed their work computer's hard drive without consent in 2018 and subsequently fabricated reports as if they had committed illegal acts.
The Sports Ethics Center, which investigated the incident, determined that the actions constituted workplace harassment. After review by its deliberation committee, the center decided to request severe disciplinary action against A and B from the KBO. However, it is understood that the official decision has not yet been formally transmitted to the KBO.
A representative of the Sports Ethics Center stated in a phone call with StarNews on the morning of the 13th: "Following deliberation by the committee, the results have been notified to both the complainant and the accused. Appeals will be accepted for one month from the date of notification." The representative added, "We are currently awaiting any appeals. Once this period concludes, an official letter regarding the disciplinary decision will be sent to the relevant sports organization through either the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism or the Korean Olympic Committee."
Amid growing societal demands for strict punishment regarding allegations of workplace harassment and human rights violations, attention is now focused on whether the parties involved will file appeals and what final disciplinary measures the KBO will impose.
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*This content was translated by AI.
