Seoul High School Baseball Team Banned for Insensitive Trash Talk Referencing Gwangju Uprising

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul high school baseball team has been banned from competing at national tournaments for six months after its players derided opponents with insensitive words during a recent game.

The Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) handed down the suspension on Pai Chai High School, whose players came under fire for crossing the line with their trash talk against Gwangju Jeil High School, based in the southern city of Gwangju, during their first-round game Monday at the Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship. It is the country's oldest, biggest high school baseball tournament.

The KBSA said the ban is effective immediately, meaning the remaining games for Pai Chai will be forfeited.

Some Pai Chai players were heard yelling toward the Gwangju Jeil dugout, "Let's go to Starbucks!" and "Tank Day!"

These were in reference to a controversial promotion by Starbucks Korea on May 18, the anniversary of the Gwangju pro-democracy uprising.

The campaign offered discounts on "Tank" tumbler sets with the phrase, "Put it on the table with a sound of 'Tak!'" Starbucks Korea, operated by Shinsegae affiliate E-Mart, was widely criticized for mocking the democratization movement, as the word "tank" evoked memories of the military's violent suppression of pro-democracy demonstrators during the Gwangju uprising.

The word "tak" also drew criticism because it reminded some people of student activist Park Jong-cheol, whose death under police torture in 1987 became a symbol of South Korea's democratization movement.

Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin apologized for the ill-advised campaign, while Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jung-hyun was dismissed.

According to Pai Chai, one player started the Starbucks-related chant and some of his teammates followed suit.

The KBSA said it will open separate disciplinary proceedings to determine any penalties for Pai Chai's coaches and individual players.

Wednesday's disciplinary meeting was attended by managers for both schools and umpires from the game in question.

Pai Chai offered to send some of its teachers, baseball players and their parents to Gwangju Jeil to apologize in person earlier in the day. However, Cho Yun-chae, Gwangju Jeil's skipper, and other school officials said their players were still upset and were not yet prepared to accept an apology.