Controversial Chants at a National Baseball Tournament
During the 54th Bonghwang Flag National High School Baseball Tournament in Seoul, two players from Paichai High School sparked outrage with a series of chants that ridiculed the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising.
The offensive slogans, which included a reference to a Starbucks Korea promotion that evoked the military crackdown, prompted the Korea Baseball Softball Association to impose a six‑month suspension on the team, later reduced to a single month after the players issued an apology and organized a visit to the May 18 National Cemetery in Gwangju.
All thirty‑six members of the squad traveled to Jeil High School in Gwangju to pay respects at the cemetery, a gesture that the association said helped mitigate the punishment and demonstrated a commitment to honoring the memory of the democracy activists.
The episode highlights how quickly sports rivalries can intersect with historical trauma, reflecting growing sensitivity around commemorations of the Gwangju uprising, a pivotal moment in South Korea’s democratization.