"Let's go to Starbucks," "Tank Day": High school baseball cheer slogans that shook the political sphere... Why did Korean society become so outraged?

*This content was translated by AI.

"Cheer slogans that began in the high school baseball dugout are shaking Korean society. This is because there were allegations that the slogans "Let's go to Starbucks" and "Tank Day," shouted by some student-athletes of the Baejae High School baseball team against Gwangju Jeil High School (Gwangju Il-go), contained mockery of the the 18th Democratization Movement and derogatory references to the region. The situation spread beyond the baseball field to the education sector, civil society, and the political sphere.

"The controversy arose from the first-round match between Baejae High School and Gwangju Jeil High School at the 81st Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship and Weekend League King of Kings Tournament held at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 29th of last month. In the latter half of the game, Baejae High School players repeatedly chanted the slogan "Go, go, go, let's go to Starbucks" toward Gwangju Jeil High School players. During this process, the shout "Tank Day" was also heard. The Gwangju Jeil High School side immediately protested, and the umpire team warned the Baejae High School side.

"There was a reason why it was difficult to view this as simple mockery or a parody of a cheer song. The expressions 'Starbucks' and 'Tank Day' recalled the controversy over Starbucks Korea's 'Tank Day' marketing campaign held on the day of the the 18th Democratization Movement commemoration last May. At that time, Starbucks used phrases such as 'Tank Day' and 'On the desk, tap!' for a tumblers promotion campaign, but faced fierce criticism for evoking memories of the martial law armored vehicles during the the 18th incident and the torture-to-death case of Park Jong-chul. Following this, movements for boycotts, criticism from the political sphere, and condemnation from civil society continued.

"Public opinion boiled over as such sensitive expressions reappeared as cheer slogans directed at a baseball team with a regional base in Gwangju Metropolitan City just over a month later. The social impact was so great that Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jeong-hyun was dismissed, and Shinsegae Group Chairman Jung Yong-jin and Starbucks' U.S. headquarters also issued public apologies, making it difficult to satisfy public opinion with only the explanation that 'the children likely did not know well.'

"Immediately after the game, Baejae High School coach Kwon Oh-young, the coaching staff, the student who led the cheer, and some parents realized the seriousness of the situation and went directly to the Gwangju Jeil High School dugout to apologize. The Baejae High School side also promised disciplinary action against some students and measures to prevent recurrence at the school level, but the situation did not calm down easily.

"The next day, on June 30, Gwangju Jeil High School Principal Lee Gyu-yeon prepared a letter of protest and visited the Korea Baseball and Softball Association (KBSA) located at Olympic Parktel in Songpa-gu, Seoul. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education also launched a comprehensive investigation, and the KBSA, recognizing the seriousness of the situation, held an emergency Sports Korea Fair Trade Commission meeting on the 1st.

"The Sports Korea Fair Trade Commission judged this incident as one that violated sportsmanship and disrupted the order of the stadium, and imposed a six-month suspension from national tournaments on the Baejae High School baseball team. The suspension was applied from the second round of the Cheongryonggi Cup on the 2nd, and Baejae High School's relevant match was ruled a forfeit. However, it was judged that disciplinary action against coaches and players required careful deliberation, so a detailed investigation will be conducted during the suspension period. It was decided to reconvene the Sports Korea Fair Trade Commission within the period to specifically identify the targets and deliberate.

"The political sphere also reacted. The ruling party viewed this incident not merely as a deviation by student-athletes, but as a problem of youth historical awareness and hate culture. Kim Nam-hee (48), a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, pointed out on his SNS, "It seems that the current phenomenon of extreme right-wing radicalization among teenagers is caused by the combination of excessive SNS use and short-form culture, an extreme right-wing teenage culture that views mocking the older generation as a badge of honor during puberty, and carefully produced and distributed extreme right-wing content that encourages this."

"On the other hand, while the opposition party acknowledged that there was clearly a fault, they reacted that the level of punishment was excessive. Jeong Jeom-sik (61), a People Power Party Won Nae (CEO), stated on his SNS, "While the Baejae High School players mocked Gwangju Jeil High School players with a mocking slogan 'Let's go to Starbucks' during the game, which had the aspect of belittling the the 18th Democratization Movement and was inappropriate behavior," he also expressed the position that "the Korea Baseball and Softball Association's decision to suspend the Baejae High School baseball team from national tournaments for six months was an excessive measure."

"The Baejae High School controversy did not remain merely as an issue of inappropriate cheering by a single school's baseball team because the expressions 'Tank Day' and '(controversial) Let's go to Starbucks' touched upon the historical sensitivity of Korean society. Moreover, since those expressions were directed at students in Gwangju Metropolitan City, who bear the scars of the the 18th Democratization Movement, social outrage could only grow larger.

"The controversy has now spread beyond the fault of the student-athletes to questions about why they accepted such expressions as cheer slogans, and what adults were doing until such slogans emerged from the dugout. With the political battle over the level of punishment for student-athletes added, this incident is growing into a problem that asks how Korean society should view history, hate, education, and punishment beyond the sports field."

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*This content was translated by AI.