A Controversial Chant
A Seoul high school baseball team, Pai Chai High School, has filed an appeal against a six‑month suspension handed down by the Korea Baseball Softball Association after a tournament incident that sparked national attention.
The controversy erupted during the Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship, when Pai Chai players directed derogatory chants at opponents from Gwangju Jeil High School. The chants, which included the refrain “Let’s go to Starbucks!” and “Tank Day!”, were tied to a short‑lived Starbucks promotion that referenced the 1980 Gwangju pro‑democracy uprising.
The promotion, which offered discounted “Tank” tumblers, evoked memories of the military crackdown on protesters, a connection that many interpreted as insensitive. The Korea Baseball Softball Association responded by imposing the suspension, which took immediate effect and forced Pai Chai to forfeit its remaining games, as well as to miss next month’s Bonghwang High School Baseball Tournament.
Appeal Process and Community Response
The suspension also threatens the draft prospects of several senior players, as scouts had been tracking their performance for the upcoming Korea Baseball Organization draft. In response, players and parents from Pai Chai traveled to Gwangju to offer a personal apology to the Jeil High School community, and both schools jointly visited the May 18th National Cemetery to honor the victims of the uprising.
The incident has drawn commentary from alumni associations on both sides, with Pai Chai’s alumni pleading for leniency while Gwangju Jeil’s faculty and alumni echoed the call for reconciliation. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee will hear the appeal on Wednesday, the deadline set for the team’s challenge to the sanction.
If the appeal is successful, the suspension could be lifted in time for the players to remain eligible for the draft, potentially reshaping the competitive landscape of high school baseball in the region.