Players from Seoul’s Paichai High School cheer from the dugout during a game in the Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship in Seoul on June 29, 2026. (via social media)
Educational authorities and a national baseball association have launched an investigation after players from a Seoul high school chanted slogans appearing to mock the 1980 massacre in Gwangju during a playoff game against a team from the city. The incident has heightened concerns about the spread of far-right rhetoric and a culture of hate among students, extending from classrooms to sports venues. What was once largely confined to online memes and pranks is increasingly spilling into the offline world.The incident occurred on Monday during the latter part of a game at the Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship. Players from Seoul’s Paichai High School in the dugout repeatedly chanted “Let’s go, go, go to Starbucks” and danced in a taunting display toward their opponents from Gwangju Jeil High School.Some students also shouted “Tank Day” at the top of their lungs, which was perceived as a taunt evoking the recent controversy over Starbucks Korea’s eponymous promotional campaign on May 18, which marked the 46th anniversary of a democratic uprising in Gwangju that was violently suppressed with tanks. The ensuing public outrage caused Starbucks Korea to fire its CEO Son Jung-hyun. Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin, whose conglomerate owns the company, and the chain’s US headquarters also issued apologies over the marketing fiasco. Yet students at the game openly chanted “Tank Day” as a cheer, prompting Jeil players to complain to the referees.On Tuesday, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education issued a statement addressing the incident.“Expressions that could be perceived as trivializing historical pain or mocking a specific region cannot be tolerated,” the office said. The office immediately launched a probe into Paichai to gauge the circumstances surrounding the incident, whether any attempt was made to stop the chants at the time of the game, and whether the school had taken measures in response or established plans to prevent similar incidents in the future. “Amid the heated atmosphere of the game, some players apparently chanted ‘Let’s go to Starbucks’ with no awareness of history, and their teammates spontaneously joined in,” an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said. The Korea Baseball Softball Association on its website announced its launch of a “thorough investigation” into the incident as well as a meeting Wednesday of its sports ethics committee “to take necessary measures.” A decision on whether to discipline Paichai will be made at the meeting.Jeil also took action after the incident, saying it simply cannot let it pass. On Tuesday morning, Lee Kyu-yeon, the Gwangju school’s principal, visited the association in Seoul to deliver a letter of protest. “We categorically cannot accept language filled with hatred and mockery loudly echoing from the voices of many at a high school baseball stadium, a place of education that fosters mutual respect,” Lee said. He demanded that the association ban at all of its tournaments all cheers or expressions that mock or belittle opponents.
