Two players from the baseball team at Baejae High School in Seoul, who drew controversy over cheers that evoked the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement, have decided to quit the sport, according to reports.
The two players, identified as having led the cheers in question, recently told the school they would stop taking part in the baseball team, according to baseball officials on the 25th.
The controversy began during a June 29 game between Baejae High and Gwangju Jeil High at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul, part of the 81st Chungnyonggi National High School Baseball Championship.
Some Baejae High players shouted chants such as "Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks" toward the Gwangju Jeil High dugout and also used the phrase "Tank Day," according to reports.
Earlier, Starbucks Korea drew strong criticism for running a promotion featuring phrases such as "Tank Day" and "Tak on the desk" in the run-up to the anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. With similar expressions surfacing against Gwangju Jeil High, a school based in Gwangju, criticism grew that the chants mocked the Gwangju uprising and the region.
As the fallout spread, the sports fair-play committee of the Korea Baseball Softball Association handed the Baejae High baseball team a six-month ban from national competitions.
Baejae High later requested a review, and the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee's fair-play committee cut the suspension to one month, taking into account the student athletes' future careers and their apologies. As a result, the Baejae High baseball team was able to compete in the Phoenix Flag National High School Baseball Tournament, which opened on the 12th.
The two students believed to have led the chants, however, did not appear at the Phoenix Flag tournament. Following the controversy, the school convened its student disciplinary committee and imposed heavy penalties on the two students, according to reports.
The two students recently informed the school that they would give up baseball, according to reports.
Some in the baseball community say the controversy should prompt efforts to improve a culture of demeaning and mocking cheers aimed at opposing teams that persists in high school baseball, and to strengthen character education for student athletes.
