'Regional disparagement cheer leadership' Baejae High School baseball team members receive severe sanctions; sanction levels not disclosed... 10 others who followed received light sanctions

*This content was translated by AI.

Two Baejae High School baseball team members, known to have led the regional disparagement cheer, ultimately could not avoid severe sanctions.

According to NEWS1, Baejae High School held a Student Life Committee meeting on the 5th and is reported to have imposed school-level severe sanctions on two baseball team members who led chants of "Let's go to Starbucks" and "Tank Day" during the 81st Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship and Weekend League King of Kings match against Gwangju Ilgo at Seoul Mokdong Baseball Field on June 29.

The 10 members who followed and chanted those slogans also received light sanctions. Along with them, four baseball team coaches, including the senior coach, have been suspended from duty. However, due to concerns about exposing individual students' personal information, the specific levels of sanctions were not disclosed.

These slogans were linked to Starbucks Korea's Tank Day marketing campaign held on the 18th, the anniversary of the the 18th Democratization Movement. Officials present at the scene, including KBO team scouts, recognized it as clear regional disparagement and mockery.

Immediately after the game, Baejae High School's head coach, other coaches, parents, and the students who led the cheer visited Gwangju Ilgo's dugout to convey their apologies. However, the situation escalated rapidly, spreading even to the political sphere. The Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) held an emergency Sports Korea Fair Trade Commission meeting on the 1st and had previously imposed a six-month suspension from national tournaments on Baejae High School.

Baejae High School has shown an attitude of apology and reflection since the incident occurred. The school's homepage and alumni association bowed first, and last month on the 6th, a delegation of 86 people from Baejae High School, including Principal Lee Hyo-jun, staff, coaches, student athletes, and parents, visited Gwangju Ilgo to convey their apologies directly. They also paid respects at the National the 18th Democratization Cemetery alongside Gwangju Ilgo baseball team students and Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Governor Jeong Geun-sik.

Gwangju Ilgo, which accepted the apology, appealed for leniency toward Baejae High School's baseball team, and through the Korean Sports Council's Sports Korea Fair Trade Commission meeting on the 20th last month, the six-month sanction was reduced to one month. Baejae High School is scheduled to play against Incheon High School in the first round at Seoul Mokdong Baseball Field at 6 p.m. on August 11.

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*This content was translated by AI.