[2] However, after moving to Kaoping Fala of the Taiwan Major League,[3] Hong was regarded as a traitor by the CPBL.
In 2009, due to some La New players being involved in a match fixing incident and poor performance in leading the team, Hong was sent down to manage the minor league team of the Bears, swapping with Tsai Rongzong who was in that position at the time.
After the Bears rebranded into the Lamigo Monkeys in 2011, in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2017, Hong successfully won the Taiwan Series.
On May 15, 2024, the Hawks defeated the Rakuten Monkeys, earning Hong his 1,000th career managerial victory.
[1][6] I-Chung played for the Chinese Taipei national team at many tournaments, including the 1998 Summer Olympics, 2001 Baseball World Cup, and 2002 Asian Games.