Byung-hyun Kim to launch 12th business after 11 restaurant closures

Former MLB star Byung-hyun Kim is launching his 12th business venture with a sausage shop, despite having previously closed 11 restaurant locations. Kim, who earned a cumulative salary of approximately 23.7 billion won, revealed on the YouTube channel Zzanbro Shin Dong-yup that he is eligible to receive an annual MLB pension of about 300 million won starting at age 45.

Former baseball player Byung-hyun Kim, who won a Major League Baseball World Series ring, has revealed his significant economic foundation following his retirement. He stated that the MLB pension, which he can begin receiving at age 45, amounts to approximately 300 million won per year. As he re-examines his turbulent entrepreneurial history—having closed 11 restaurant locations despite recording cumulative career earnings in the tens of billions of won—interest is growing regarding why he continues to challenge himself despite repeated failures.

On the YouTube channel Zzanbro Shin Dong-yup, which aired on the 26th, Byung-hyun Kim appeared alongside Oh Seung-hwan, Yoon Suk-min, and Yoo Hee-kwan to share stories about their experiences as baseball players and their lives after retirement. Kim's current status as a former Major League player also became a topic of conversation. He explained that he is currently serving as an MLB KOREA ambassador, noting, "It is not unique. Oh Seung-hwan is also active in the crew."

The conversation naturally transitioned to MLB pensions. When asked about the timing of receiving his pension, Kim drew interest from the panelists by revealing, "I can receive it from age 45. It is about 300 million won a year." Hearing this, Oh Seung-hwan added, "It will probably be more." The fact that players can receive substantial pension benefits after retirement based on their performance and career during their playing days drew renewed attention.

Kim also shared his thoughts on the player welfare systems in Major League Baseball. He highly praised the systems designed to ensure players can lead stable lives after their careers end, stating, "Major League Baseball has well-established welfare and benefits for players after they retire." Regarding the welfare of domestic professional baseball players, he remarked, "Our country's players have the KBO Players Association, but if they had done such things a bit earlier, it would have gone to the players a lot more. They just distribute money every year."

However, despite the expected annual pension of hundreds of millions of won, Kim's life has not been without failure. In fact, his post-retirement history shows repeated business failures that contrast with his brilliant success on the baseball field. He reportedly challenged himself with various food service businesses, ranging from steak houses to Japanese restaurants, Thai restaurants, and hamburger shops, but has closed 11 locations. While he reached the top of the world in baseball, he has struggled to achieve success in the restaurant business.

In the SBS program "Same Bed, Different Dreams 2: You Are My Destiny" broadcast earlier this year, Kim confessed that he used a significant portion of the salary he earned during his Major League days for his business ventures. When asked a question to the effect of whether he invested more than half of his total income into his businesses, he brought laughter by responding, "It's not half. If it were half, I would be kicked out." His cumulative MLB salary is known to be approximately 23.7 billion won. Despite earning massive income, he sought new possibilities by investing a large amount of it into businesses.

The fact that he has experienced repeated failures has not dampened his will to start businesses. It has been reported that Kim is currently challenging his 12th business by opening a sausage shop. Despite undergoing significant trial and error in previous ventures, he is once again attempting a new industry. While the stable income from his pension may serve as a foundation to support his business challenges, it is difficult to explain the reason for his repeated startups with that alone. It is noteworthy that his determination to undertake new work under his own name continues even after retirement.

Kim took his first step onto the Major League stage when he joined the Arizona Diamondbacks at age 19. He later left his mark as an Asian player who stepped onto the World Series stage, carving a significant path in Korean baseball history as the first Korean to win a World Series ring. Having achieved success on the world's highest level as a player, he is now struggling in a completely different field: the food service industry.

The contrasting history of an annual pension of approximately 300 million won, a cumulative salary known to be approximately 23.7 billion won, and 11 business closures makes Kim's post-retirement life even more interesting. Whether his continuous movement to start businesses, despite securing a stable income, is a choice simply to earn money or a challenge toward new success is drawing attention. Attention is focused on whether Kim, who has embarked on his 12th startup after repeated failures, can demonstrate the same competitive spirit in business that he showed on the baseball field.

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