Han Seung-taek (31), who left KIA Tigers, where he played for 10 years, and transferred to Suwon KT Wiz, revealed the reason why he had to leave Gwangju, which he loved.
KT held the ‘2025 KT Wiz Fan Festival‘ at the Suwon Convention Center located in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon Special-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 29th. About 61 people attended the event on this day, including first team and futures players including Go Young-pyo, Heo Gyeong-min, Oh Won-seok, So Hyeong-jun, and An Hyun-min, as well as freshmen Kim Hyun-soo (37), Han Seung-taek (31), Choi Won-jun (28), and An In-san (24).
At his first meeting with fans, Han Seung-taek said, “Hello, I’m Han Seung-taek.” He then said, “I’m so glad to meet the fans. I will work hard to help KT achieve good results.”
Han Seung-taek was the first free agent signed by KT this winter. Previously, on the 20th, Han Seung-taek signed a four-year free agent contract with KT worth up to 1 billion won (down payment of 200 million won, total annual salary of 600 million won, and incentive of 200 million won).
Han Seung-taek, who met with reporters at the event, said, “The first team to offer me was KT. Even though I was a backup catcher for the past two years, they reached out first, so I signed right away without thinking for a long time.” He added, “I guess he was worried about the amount of money being less than (Kim) Hyun-soo or (Choi) Won-jun, so he supported me by saying, ‘Do well and get a good contract in four years.'”
After graduating from Jamjeon Elementary School (Namyangju Little), Jamshin Middle School, and Deoksu High School, Seungtaek Han began his professional career by joining the Hanwha Eagles as the 23rd pick in the third round of the 2013 KBO rookie draft. Shortly before enlisting in the National Police Agency, he was designated as Lee Yong-gyu’s free agent compensation player, and after being discharged from the military, he re-debuted at KIA. He mainly played as a backup catcher with stable defense and contributed to winning the 2017 Korean Series. This was due to his batting average of 0.208 (235 hits in 1,132 at-bats) in 628 games, 19 home runs, 118 RBIs, 103 runs, on-base percentage of 0.293, slugging percentage of 0.292, and OPS of only 0.585. Because of this, some predicted that Han Seung-taek would retake the free agency.
Han Seung-taek responded, “I honestly didn’t worry about declaring free agency. Rather than being confident that I could sign a contract, I thought that an opportunity like this would not come easily. Since I was in the C grade (no need for compensation players), I thought it was an opportunity.”
It was a different choice from my original intention of wanting to stay in Gwangju and KIA. Han Seung-taek is from Seoul and started his professional career in Daejeon, but spent 10 years of his 13-year career in Gwangju. Immediately after free agency, he expressed his affectionate feelings through his SNS, saying, “KIA means a lot in my life. As a baseball player, wearing the KIA uniform has always been a source of pride and honor for me. I think every little thing, including the time I spent in Gwangju, will remain as a precious memory. I was happy to be KIA Han Seung-taek for 10 years, and I was really grateful for the support.”
But as a player, he couldn’t lose himself either. Han Seung-taek, who has played in more than 60 games every year since the 2017 championship season, has played only 38 at-bats in 35 games over the past two years.
Han Seung-taek expressed his honest feelings, saying, “I wanted to stay in KIA. Of course, it was a good team and I heard a lot about it. However, I was disappointed that I could not play a lot in the past two years, and I wanted to go to a team where I could play a lot. If I had been able to play a lot of games, I would have stayed in KIA, but it was a difficult situation to do that.”
What kind of team was KT, which he left with such regret, to him? Han Seung-taek replied, “From the outside, KT was a strong team. Something always happened when I came to Suwon. I remember playing a lot of difficult games.” He added, “I am the type of person who first understands the pitchers’ tendencies and personalities. When I go to camp, I approach them first and get to know them first. I was curious about Park Young-hyun’s pitches. Hitting and receiving pitches have different feelings.”
After the recruitment of Han Seung-taek, KT spent 10.8 billion won just on recruiting external free agents, recruiting Kim Hyun-soo (37) and Choi Won-jun (28) in turn. Han Seung-taek also knows the role KT wants for him and the direction of the team. Han Seung-taek emphasized, “I want to win at KT. There are also players (Jang) Seong-woo, Kang Hyun-woo, and Cho Dae-hyeon in the same position, and I have a strong desire to join forces and win the championship. This time, (Choi) Won-jun, (Kim) Hyun-soo, Ahn In-san, and (Han) Seung-hyuk came here, so I think KT has become a strong team. We deserve to aim for the championship, too.”
Finally, to the KIA fans who wished him a bright future, he expressed his strong ambition, saying, “I have had many regrets at KIA so far, but there were quite a few people who supported me. I am truly grateful, and I want to show that I can do better here.”
