Police search Gwangju high school after bomb threat amid baseball trash talk controversy

Funeral wreaths criticizing recent trash talk by some baseball players of Seoul's Paichai High School are placed in front of the school, July 2. Korea Times photo by Park Si-mon

Authorities are conducting a search at a high school in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Saturday after an online post claimed that an explosive device had been planted at the school, officials said.

According to the Gwangju Bukbu Police Station, police and fire authorities received a report around 11:50 a.m. regarding an online message that claimed a bomb had been placed at Gwangju Jeil High School.

Search operations are under way at the school premises, but no explosive devices have been found so far, they said.

The threatening message on an online community also claimed that the "future of Paichai High School has been violated," in what appeared to be a reference to a recent controversy involving school baseball teams.

Some players of Paichai High School in Seoul were previously heard shouting such phrases as "Let's go to Starbucks" and "Tank Day" toward the Gwangju Jeil dugout during a recent high school baseball tournament, sparking accusations of mockery and regional insults.

Amid strong criticism over the incident, the Korea Baseball Softball Association imposed a six-month suspension on Paichai's baseball team as a disciplinary measure.

The phrases were linked to a controversial Starbucks Korea promotion on May 18, the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy uprising, which drew strong criticism for allegedly mocking the movement.

The campaign offered discounted "Tank" tumbler sets under the slogan "Put it on the table with a sound of 'Tak!,'" with "tank" evoking memories of the military crackdown during the uprising and "tak" drawing further criticism for its association with student activist Park Jong-cheol, whose 1987 death under police torture became a symbol of South Korea's democratization movement.

Paichai High School plans to hold an official apology event on Monday, while its alumni association has called for leniency.