"Let's go to Starbucks," Baejae High School, Gwangju Jeil High School mockery controversy → Sports Korea Fair Trade Commission to intervene... School posts official apology

*This content was translated by AI.

Seoul Baejae High School is being referred to the Sports Korea Fair Trade Commission for mocking students from Gwangju Jeil High School with derogatory regional remarks during a high school baseball tournament.

A Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) official told StarNews on the 29th, "We have received reports via email and other channels regarding the controversy involving Baejae High School. Given that there are tournament regulations in place, a meeting of the Sports Korea Fair Trade Commission is expected to be held."

The issue arose during the 81st Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship and Weekend League King of Kings match between Baejae High School and Gwangju Jeil High School, held at Seoul Mokdong Baseball Stadium on the afternoon of the same day.

The Baejae High School team sparked controversy by chanting a mocking slogan directed at Gwangju Jeil High School players: "Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks." This appears to be a modification of the existing high school players' chant "Let's go, let's go, hit a hit and let's go," with only the middle portion altered. The chant itself is not new.

As this was a national tournament, many KBO club scouts and parents were watching, and the incident was quickly recorded and spread rapidly across online communities.

The reason this chant became controversial is its connection to the Starbucks controversy that occurred on May 18. Starbucks Korea sparked controversy by holding a "Tank Day" event on the anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. This was a major social issue, and other videos shouting "Tank Day" were also discovered, making criticism unavoidable.

Due to the continued mocking remarks, the Gwangju Jeil High School coach directly protested, saying, "That's enough," and the umpire intervened to stop it. KBO scouts at the scene also recognized the issue. A KBO scout confirmed, "Baejae High School engaged in regional derogatory cheering against Gwangju Jeil High School."

After the game, the Baejae High School side conveyed its apology directly to Gwangju Jeil High School. Gwangju Jeil High School head coach Cho Yoon-chae explained, "After the game, the Baejae High School head coach, coaches, and even parents apologized. The Baejae High School head coach also called to say that a school disciplinary committee would be convened regarding the player in question and that character education would be immediately implemented. He also stated that the school would take all possible measures, including posting an apology on the school website or broadcasting it."

In fact, Baejae High School bowed its head through its school website, stating, "We sincerely apologize for causing deep hurt and disappointment to the Gwangju Jeil High School team, parents, alumni, and many others, including citizens of Gwangju, due to the inappropriate cheering slogan by some of our student-athletes during the match against Gwangju Jeil High School on the 29th."

It further stated, "This cheering was a highly inappropriate action that violated the spirit of sports, which requires respect for the opposing school and the local community. It was a highly inappropriate action lacking in historical significance and respect for the local community. The school is taking this matter very seriously and promises to prevent recurrence."

▶ The full text of Baejae High School's official apology follows.

Apology

Regarding the match against Gwangju Jeil High School during the Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship today

Due to the inappropriate cheering slogan by some of our student-athletes

We sincerely apologize for causing deep hurt and disappointment to the Gwangju Jeil High School team, parents, alumni, and many others, including citizens of Gwangju

We sincerely apologize to the many citizens and others for the deep hurt and disappointment we have caused.

We sincerely apologize.

We immediately stopped the student-athlete in question and took necessary measures at the scene, and after the game, conveyed our apology to the Gwangju Jeil High School baseball team.

and conveyed apologies to the Gwangju Jeil High School baseball team after the game.

This cheering was a highly inappropriate action that violated the spirit of sports, which requires respect for the opposing school and the local community, and was a highly inappropriate action lacking in respect for historical significance and the local community. The school is taking this matter very seriously.

Such support must respect the spirit of sportsmanship that honors both the opposing school and the local community.

It was a very inappropriate action that deviated from the historical significance and the local community.

It was a highly inappropriate action that lacked respect for Korea. The school, this time

We are taking the matter very seriously.

Accordingly, our school will implement the following follow-up measures.

First, the student-athlete in question will be referred to the Student Life Education Committee for strict handling in accordance with school rules and procedures.

We will handle this strictly in accordance with the school regulations and procedures.

Second, special education on sportsmanship, human rights sensitivity, community awareness, and player ethics will be conducted for all members of the baseball team.

We will conduct special education on awareness and player ethics.

Third, taking this incident as an opportunity, we will continuously implement prevention education to foster students' historical awareness, respect for others, and the establishment of proper cheering culture, so that such incidents never occur again.

Continuous re-education to prevent recurrence for establishing a proper support culture

We will do our utmost to ensure that the same incident never happens again.

We once again deeply apologize to all those who were hurt by this incident. The school is taking this matter seriously and will continue to strive for student character education and the establishment of proper cheering culture.

We sincerely apologize, and the school is taking this matter seriously, and the student

We will continue to strive to establish proper character education and a healthy support culture.

We will do our utmost to ensure that such an incident never happens again.

June 29, 2026.

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*This content was translated by AI.