Student athletes suspended from competitive play after mocking Gwangju massacre

The incident at a high school baseball tournament prompted fierce backlash

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)

The Korea Baseball Softball Association handed down a severe disciplinary action against the Paichai High School baseball team with a six-month suspension from nationwide competitions for inappropriate chanting during a recent baseball game.The measure meant the team would not be able to take part in a scheduled game on Thursday.The sports association approved the action in an emergency sports fairness committee meeting on Wednesday at Seoul Olympic Parktel in Seoul’s Bangi neighborhood. The committee concluded that the behavior ran counter to the spirit of sportsmanship and caused a disturbance at the stadium in question.As a result of the decision, Paichai High School was ineligible to take part in the tournament’s second-round game against Suncheon Hyocheon High School BC, which was to take place on Thursday. The team’s result is to be recorded as a forfeit.In addition to the disciplinary action against the team, other possible measures against the coach and individual athletes are to be decided on after further investigation.On Monday, the Paichai High School baseball team played against Gwangju Jeil High School at the 81st Cheongryongi National High School Baseball Championship at Seoul’s Mok-dong Baseball Stadium. During that match, some of the athletes chanted “Let’s go, go, go to Starbucks” at their Gwangju Jeil opponents. Shouts of “Tank Day” were also heard from the dugout.The chants played on a recent incident in which Starbucks Korea used promotional slogans about “May 18 Tank Day” and other language evoking the violence of Korea’s authoritarian past in a tumbler promotional event on the anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980, triggering outrage from the South Korean public.The Korea Baseball Softball Association also plans to revise its rules for tournament management and beef up punishment standards to eliminate examples of inappropriate cheering culture in stadiums. It further intends to hold discussions with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and other relevant bodies to institute educational programs to promote social sensitivity and proper historical perceptions among coaches and student athletes.By Kim Yang-hee, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]