Seoul high school athletes to visit Gwangju to apologize for disparaging chants

Baejae High School and Gwangju Jeil High School compete in the first-round game of the the Cheongnonggi National High School Baseball Championship at a stadium in Seoul, June 29. Captured image from Korea Baseball Softball Association's website

Student athletes from a Seoul high school will visit Gwangju, Monday, to formally apologize for chanting disparaging slogans about the 1980 Gwangju Uprising during a national baseball tournament.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said a delegation of 86 people from Seoul's Paichai High School will visit Gwangju Jeil High School — the opposing school targeted by the chants — at 3 p.m.

The delegation will include 36 baseball players, the headmaster, coaches, teachers and parents.

The student athletes will read a letter of apology and meet with peers from the Gwangju school for a reconciliation session.

The delegation will also visit the May 18th National Cemetery at 4 p.m. to pay tribute to those killed during the pro-democracy movement against military rule in Gwangju in 1980.

The visit will be accompanied by the superintendents of the Seoul and Gwangju education boards, Jung Keun-sik and Kim Dae-jung.

The apology comes after Paichai High School's baseball team sparked outrage by chanting slogans widely regarded as politically and historically offensive during a tournament game against Gwangju Jeil High School on June 29.

Multiple Paichai players repeatedly chanted, "Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks," and "Tank Day" during a first-round game of the Cheongnonggi National High School Baseball Championship at a stadium in Seoul.

The chants referenced a Starbucks Korea’s recent marketing campaign that drew widespread criticism for trivializing the Gwangju Uprising. The campaign featured the phrase "Tank Day" on May 18, the 46th anniversary of the uprising, during which military forces, including paratroopers and tanks, were deployed to suppress demonstrators.

After receiving a complaint during the game, Paichai High School coaches visited the opposing team's dugout to apologize.

However, controversy intensified across the country after video of the chants spread online, July 1.

The controversy led the Korea Baseball Softball Association to suspend Paichai's baseball team from all national tournaments for six months, the maximum penalty available for serious misconduct.

Paichai High School, through the Seoul education board, informed Gwangju Jeil High School, of its intention to visit and apologize, with the two schools coordinating the Monday visit.

Beginning July 8, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will begin history and human rights education, along with training to prevent discriminatory and hateful expressions, to all students at Paichai High School.

It is also conducting special inspections of athletic teams at schools across Seoul through Aug. 21 and plans to develop educational materials promoting respectful cheering culture and prohibiting discriminatory chants.