Ex-Bears infielder Oh Jae-won extorted sleeping pills, players report: KBO

Former Doosan Bears infielder Oh Jae-won, who was arrested on drug charges last month, received prescription sleeping pills that his former teammates obtained on his behalf, the KBO said Monday, according to a Yonhap News Agency report.

Doosan Bears infielder Oh Jae-won in action during a KBO game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on May, 11, 2021. [YONHAP]

The KBO said Monday that former Doosan Bears infielder Oh Jae-won, who was arrested on drug charges last month, received prescription sleeping pills that former teammates obtained on his behalf, according to a Yonhap News Agency report.

Eight Doosan Bears players voluntarily reported to the KBO Clean Baseball Center, which aims to monitor "deviant" player behavior such as gambling, match-fixing and harassment, that they had handed Oh sleeping pills two weeks ago, according to the KBO on Monday.

The Bears did not reveal the identities of the involved players, but most are reportedly on the reserve team.

The Bears told Yonhap that Oh forced the Bears players to obtain sleeping pills on his behalf from 2021 to 2022 when he was still on the team.

A Bears player who spoke on the condition of anonymity through Korean broadcaster Channel A said Monday that Oh was violent toward him when he refused Oh's request for sleeping pills. The player also said that Oh said he would stab him with a weapon if he did not keep it a secret.

Oh has yet to publicly comment on the allegations.

The Bears and the KBO are set to cooperate with the police in an investigation into the matter.

The revelation from the Bears player comes after Oh was arrested for suspected drug use last month.

Police opened an investigation into Oh on suspicion of drug use on March 10 following a tip from one of his female acquaintances.

Police initially sent Oh home after a simple drug test came back negative. After uncovering further evidence of suspected drug use, an arrest warrant was issued against Oh and he was detained on March 19.

Oh, 39, played as an infielder for the Bears for 16 years, captaining the squad to two KBO championship titles. He appeared in all seven Korean Series that the Bears competed in from 2015 to 2021 and was part of the gold medal-winning Korean teams at the 2014 Asian Games and 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12.

Oh retired from professional baseball in 2022.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN, JIM BULLEY [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr[