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) 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.
