Choo Shin-soo. [Yonhap]
Choo Shin-soo. [Yonhap]

Choo Shin-soo, 44, the former SSG Landers slugger, has drawn attention after revealing his sprawling 18,150-square-meter estate in Texas. The property has seven bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and monthly maintenance costs exceeding 10 million won ($6,990).

Choo appeared Monday on tvN STORY's "Nam-gyeoseo Mwo Hage," a lifestyle program, and shared updates on his life, saying he has been working in the Landers front office since retiring two years ago, before giving viewers a tour of the Texas property.

The home features a movie theater, a PC bang, a swimming pool, a private training facility and a personal museum dedicated to his playing career.

Particularly striking was the museum display, which includes the third-base bag and ball from the game in which Choo became the first Asian player in Major League Baseball history to hit for the cycle — both preserved and framed. His wife, Ha Won-mi, looked on and said, "He's my husband, but I'm so proud of him."

Choo described the property, saying, "In America the land is big, so the land alone is 18,150 square meters," and noted it has seven bedrooms and 12 bathrooms.

When fellow guest Lee Young-ja asked how many people work at the house, Choo said there are no full-time staff and that a maintenance company visits once a week. He added that monthly upkeep runs to more than 10 million won, drawing gasps from those present.

[Captured from tvN broadcast]
[Captured from tvN broadcast]

On the program, Choo named his Lego room as his favorite space in the house.

"I always build the biggest sets," he said. "When I'm doing Lego, my mind goes completely blank."

The family designed the home themselves.

Choo explained that the decision came after years of searching. "We spent about three years looking at houses, but nothing was 100 percent right," he said. "After three years of searching, with the kids and everything, we figured we might as well build a house we could live in for the rest of our lives."

Choo's cumulative MLB salary is estimated to have reached around 190 billion won over his career.

Choo addressed the figure directly, saying, "The 190 billion won is before taxes." He added that his seven-year contract with the Texas Rangers paid $130 million, which at the exchange rate at the time amounted to roughly 140 billion won.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com