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Paichai High School baseball team suspended 6 months over 'Tank Day' chant against Gwangju school
Paichai High School players dance and chant "Let's go to Starbucks" at the 81st Cheongnonggi National High School Baseball Championship at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Yangcheon District, Seoul, Monday. Captured from X (formerly Twitter)
By Park Ung
The Paichai High School baseball team has been suspended from national tournament play for six months after a chant evoked Starbucks Korea's controversial "Tank Day" promotion during a national tournament match against a school from Gwangju.
The Korea Baseball Softball Association held a sports fair play committee meeting Wednesday to review the incident and imposed the suspension after determining the chant violated the spirit of sportsmanship and disrupted order on the field.
During Monday's match against Gwangju Jeil High School at the 81st Cheongnonggi National High School Baseball Championship in Seoul's Mokdong Baseball Stadium, some Paichai players repeatedly chanted “Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks” in unison. One student even shouted “Tank Day.”
The chant was a direct reference to Starbucks Korea's "Tank Day" promotion launched on May 18 — the 46th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising — which used the phrase in a reference widely condemned as denigrating the pro-democracy movement. The backlash at the time drew responses from consumers and politicians alike.
The pro-democracy movement erupted in the southwestern city of Gwangju on May 18, 1980, when citizens stood up against the nationwide extension of martial law by the military junta led by Chun Doo-hwan, who would become president later that year. The crackdown left hundreds dead or missing, and it has since been recognized as a pivotal moment in Korea's long road to democratization.
Paichai High School immediately posted an apology Monday, but it drew further criticism after a watermark from Google's Gemini was found on it, raising questions about whether it had been generated using artificial intelligence.
Relevant institutions responded swiftly. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Tuesday it takes the matter seriously and will comprehensively review the school's follow-up measures and preventive education plans.
The office also said it would strengthen education across all Seoul schools with athletic programs, targeting hate speech, disrespect toward opponents and communities, and distorted views of history.
Paichai faculty, players and parents planned to visit Gwangju Jeil High School Wednesday to apologize in person, but the visit fell through after the Gwangju school asked them to reconsider, saying its students were not yet ready to accept an apology.
Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said the incident was truly regrettable, noting that chants denigrating the uprising and disparaging a region were expressed openly on a high school sports field.
“What student athletes must learn first is not skill, but character,” Choi wrote on social media. “Those who neglect character and human rights sensitivity, or who stir social conflict through a distorted understanding of history, fall short of what it means to be an elite athlete.”