Park Chan-ho: “I Live an Ugly Life”

Park Chan-ho, the first Korean Major Leaguer, has just emerged from a three-year slump during which he must have felt like hiding behind the dugout. Having made a miraculous comeback this season and achieved his 100th career win, he shared a piece of his mind.

Park Chan-ho held a private interview with “KoreAm Journal,” an English magazine that targets second generation Korean-Americans, and talked about the heartache that he has been suffering since his transfer to the Texas Rangers.

Park Chan-ho revealed that when he was in his prime, there was a time when he was frustrated with excessive attention from Korean fans and wished they would go away. He said, “I now realize that my fans had been giving me their attention not because they loved baseball, but because they are Korean.”

When he moved to Texas Park Chan-ho was promised a salary of $65 million (about 65 billion won) for five years, which is a remarkable sum. Surprisingly, however, he called his own life an “ugly life.” “People think I am living a grand life with money and fame, but if you look into the other side you will see it is distorted by heavy pressure.”

Seung-Ryun Kim srkim@donga.com