Seoul: A Seoul high school baseball team recently banned for trash talking is mulling an appeal, officials said Tuesday. Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Pai Chai High School is considering appealing a six-month ban handed down by the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) last week.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Pai Chai was suspended after some of its players derided their opponents from Gwangju Jeil High School during a recent tournament game in Seoul, yelling "Let's go to Starbucks!" and "Tank Day!" Their chants were linked to a Starbucks Korea promotion on May 18, the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy uprising, which drew strong criticism for allegedly mocking the movement.
The campaign offered discounted "Tank" tumbler sets under the slogan "Put it on the table with a sound of 'Tak!,'" with "tank" evoking memories of the military crackdown during the uprising and "tak" drawing further criticism for its association with student activist Park Jong-cheol, whose 1987 death under police torture became a symbol of South Korea's democratization movement.
Pai Chai baseball players and their parents visited Gwangju Jeil in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Monday to apologize in person. Students from both schools visited the May 18th National Cemetery to pay respects for those killed during the pro-democracy uprising.
Appeals against disciplinary decisions by national sports governing bodies must be filed with the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee, the top national sports organization. Those appeals must be submitted within seven days of the initial decision, and the deadline for Pai Chai is Wednesday.
The incident took place during the Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship, and the ban took effect immediately, with Pai Chai's remaining games forfeited. Unless overturned, the suspension will also keep Pai Chai out of next month's Bonghwang High School Baseball Tournament, another major competition. The team's absence could be a big blow to Pai Chai seniors' chances of getting selected at the upcoming draft for the Korea Baseball Organization.
Separately from Pai Chai's possible appeal, Gwangju Jeil asked the KBSA on Monday to reconsider its suspension. "I would like to ask the KBSA to please allow Pai Chai High School's baseball players to have a fresh start on the field," Gwangju Jeil principal Lee Gyu-yeon said at a press conference. "Pai Chai students, parents and faculty offered their apology in person and pledged a new start. I hope that they can shed burden off their heart and return to their normal life quickly."
Gwangju Jeil's alumni association also called for leniency for Pai Chai's student-athletes, saying, "Having a scarlet letter written on the students who are deeply sorry for their mistakes and have asked for forgiveness is never what we want." The alumni association claimed instead that Pai Cha baseball coaches must be held accountable for their lack of oversight, and said punishment for any mockery of significant historical events must be stipulated.