Jung Ho Kang returning to U.S. and the Pirates
Team promises player resources and support
Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang received a work visa and has returned to the United States, the team announced Thursday, ending more than a year of exile after a drunken-driving conviction in his native South Korea prevented him from obtaining the proper paperwork.
Kang was arrested in December 2016 after his third DUI since 2009. He received an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, which he appealed and lost. The State Department denied Kang’s request for a visa prior to the 2017 season and the Pirates put him on the restricted list.
The acquisition of a visa means Kang overcame permanent ineligibility status and received a waiver of inadmissibility, though what changed between early 2017 and now that allowed him to obtain the waiver is unclear.
“We are encouraged by the steps that Jung Ho has taken to date and are hopeful that having the game he loves taken away from him for more than a year has driven home the reality that he must make better life decisions as we move forward together,” Pirates President Frank Coonelly said in a statement.
“As we have communicated to him throughout this process, we will work to provide Jung Ho with the resources and support necessary for him to meet the high
expectations that we have for him as a member of our organization and our community.”
General manager Neal Huntington did not respond to a message seeking comment. Kang’s agent, Alan Nero of Octagon, declined to comment. Amy Maldonado, an immigration lawyer who works with Octagon clients, confirmed that she represented Kang but declined to comment further.
Another lawyer, Javad Khazaeli, posted a selfie on Twitter of himself and Kang at what appeared to be an airport Thursday afternoon. Khazaeli, who according to his firm’s website worked for the Department of Homeland Security before entering private practice, referred all questions to the Pirates.
“I just heard, actually. I think that’d be awesome,” Pirates utility man Sean Rodriguez said after the Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers, 1-0, Thursday. “If he could just be even remotely productive, that’s all you’re looking for, just an extra little production off the bench. You never know, maybe he does play himself into an everyday role again.”
Some Pirates had known for much longer.
“He called me two weeks ago and he said, ‘I’m coming,’” catcher Francisco Cervelli said. “I didn’t believe, but this guy is hungry. He’s part of this. For us it’s a good guy and also it’s a good player.”
The 31-year-old Kang was a star for the Korean Baseball Organization’s Nexen Heroes before the Pirates signed him to a four-year, $11 million contract in January 2015. He had a .355 onbase percentage and 15 home runs that season and finished third in the rookie of the year voting, but a knee injury ended his season early and delayed his 2016 debut.
In July 2016, Chicago police began investigating Kang for an alleged sexual assault. A 23-year-old woman told police she met Kang through the dating app Bumble and went to his hotel room, where he gave her an alcoholic drink. She told police she blacked out and drifted in and out of consciousness while Kang assaulted her. Kang has not been charged.
In December 2016, Kang drove a rented BMW through a guardrail in South Korea and nearly into oncoming traffic. The arrest for leaving the scene of a DUI, after DUIs in August 2009 and May 2011 in South Korea, led to the revocation of his driver’s license.
Kang applied for a P-1 visa, the type given to elite athletes, in early 2017 and was denied.
Why Kang was denied is unclear, but the Pirates said the ruling of ineligibility was permanent, meaning every application he submitted would trigger a rejection and the only way around it was a waiver.
“In my experience, a normal person will have to show that a significant amount of time has gone by without them screwing up again and that they have some sort of important reason to be here,” William Stock, an immigration lawyer from Philadelphia who is a past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told the Post-Gazette last year. “With celebrities, sometimes the time can be shortcut.”
“Every visa case is unique,” a State Department official said Thursday. “Consular officers adjudicate each and every case based on the circumstances of each application.”
The collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association required Kang to appear before a joint treatment board, which recommended a voluntary treatment plan. In January 2017, Kang agreed to follow the treatment plan — the specifics of which are unknown — and the Pirates said he will fulfill those obligations now.
“We never quit on him,” Cervelli said. “He was a big thing in 2015. The fans love him. He’s a human. We cannot judge and do anything. He’s a human. He makes mistakes like everybody else. So when he comes back here, we’re going to make sure he feels like he’s at home.”
After fulfilling the obligations of the treatment plan, Kang will report to the Pirates’ spring training facility in Bradenton, Fla., to get in game shape. His last major-league game was Oct. 2, 2016. He played for Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Winter League this offseason but was cut after going 12-for-84 with a .219 on-base percentage and .202 slugging percentage.
“He was training every day, he played winter ball,” said Cervelli, who saw Kang in the Dominican Republic. “But of course he’s got to come back and play, play a lot, see pitches, velo. But he’s smart. He’s smart, and he can hit. He’s going to be fine.”