SEOUL, South Korea -- A Seoul court has fined newly signed St. Louis Cardinals reliever Seung Hwan Oh 10 million won ($8,300) for breaking South Korean gambling laws by betting heavily at a Macau casino.
Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Lim Chang-yong, Oh's former teammate with South Korean club Samsung Lions, was fined the same amount, spokesman Joon Young Maeng said Tuesday at the Seoul Central District Court.
The Korean Baseball Organization hit both players with half-season bans after prosecutors charged them for betting around 40 million won ($33,000) each at a casino in Macau in 2014.
South Korea has strict gambling laws and has only one domestic casino for locals, while 16 others admit only foreigners. South Koreans are banned from betting large sums of money at venues other than the designated local casino.
Earlier this month, Oh, 33, signed a one-year contract with a club option for a second year with the Cardinals. In 498 career games in South Korea and Japan, Oh is 32-20 with a 1.81 ERA and 772 strikeouts in 646 1/3 innings. He was a member of the gold medal-winning 2008 South Korean Olympic team and represented the country in the World Baseball Classic in 2006, 2009 and 2013.