The father of Los Angeles (LA) Dodgers player Kim Hye-sung, who won the World Series in his rookie Major League season, has spoken for the first time about the "biteu" controversy. He said, "I have repaid most of the principal, but the other side is demanding excessive interest."
On the 12th, a roughly 15-minute video titled "Kim Hye-sung's father who wants to tell the truth" was posted on attorney Lee Don-ho's YouTube channel. The video contained the currency between Kim Hye-sung's father and the attorney.
Kim Hye-sung's father said that 15 years ago, after his business went bankrupt, he borrowed about 120 million won and has repaid about 90 million won to date. He claimed, "Even though I have repaid most of the principal, the other side keeps increasing the amount on the grounds of interest."
He said, "I borrowed money under the pretext of investment funds to run a club in the basement of a hotel in Songdo, but when the business went bankrupt, I suffered a loss of 3 billion won," adding, "After that, for 7 to 8 years, I repaid little by little in amounts of 100,000 won, 200,000 won, 300,000 won, 500,000 won, 1 million won, 2 million won, and 3 million won. The total I have given so far is about 90 million won."
Kim Hye-sung's father also explained, "About 30 million won of the principal remained, but the other side added interest and demanded 200 million won early last year. After that, they reduced 50 million won and demanded 150 million won, and in Aug. this year, they asked for 50 million won." He added, "We agreed to pay 50 million won by the end of Dec., but without any contact, they put up a banner at the airport."
Kim Hye-sung's father said, "After Hye-sung joined the pros, he told me to use his entire 135 million won signing bonus to pay off the debt," adding, "For 14 years, I have been repaying the debt out of a sense of moral responsibility, but due to excessive demands from some creditors, I was inevitably forced to file for bankruptcy this year."
On the 6th, during a return interview at Incheon International Airport, Kim Hye-sung pointed to a person and said, "Once that person leaves, I will gladly do the interview," drawing attention. At the time, the person was bringing up Kim Hye-sung's father's debt issue and was holding a banner with phrases such as "Some X went to the LA Dodgers, and the father X got bankruptcy and discharge." This man has previously hung similar banners and is called "Gocheok Mr. Kim" among baseball fans.