Baejae High School players chant regional slur at rival; school's AI-generated apology draws fresh backlash

A controversy is growing after players from Seoul's Baejae High School chanted "Let's go to Starbucks" — widely interpreted as a regional slur — at rival Gwangju Jeil High School during a national high school baseball tournament. The school's official apology drew further criticism after it was found to contain a watermark from Google's AI image-generation tool Gemini, raising doubts about its sincerity. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said it is considering launching an investigation.

Baejae High School said Tuesday that the school posted an apology on its website Monday, saying it was "deeply sorry for the profound hurt and disappointment caused to the players, parents, alumni and citizens of Gwangju, as well as many others, by the inappropriate chants of some of our student athletes during the game."

The statement added that "the chant was a highly inappropriate act that violated the spirit of sportsmanship, which demands respect for the opposing school and the community, and reflected a serious lack of historical awareness and respect for the local community." The school said it was "taking this matter with the utmost gravity."

The incident occurred Sunday at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul during a match between Gwangju Jeil High School and Baejae High School at the 81st Cheongnonggi National High School Baseball Championship and Weekend League Finals. Some Baejae players repeatedly chanted "Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks" toward the opposing dugout.

Broadcast footage showed the players performing choreographed moves to accompany the chant.

The chant was widely interpreted as a mocking reference to the controversy surrounding Starbucks Korea's "May 18 Tank Day" promotional event — a campaign that drew fierce public backlash — and critics said it amounted to a slur against the Gwangju region.

Gwangju Jeil's coaching staff immediately protested to the umpires, who issued a caution to Baejae.

Video of the incident spread rapidly on social media after the game, drawing a wave of criticism. Comments included "Does Baejae play baseball at Starbucks? Is this regional hatred?" and "Baejae should issue a formal apology."

As the controversy grew, Baejae posted the apology and the baseball team's director reportedly called Gwangju Jeil directly to apologize.

Some questioned whether the school had downplayed the incident in its statement.

The school claimed it had "immediately stopped the student athlete in question and taken necessary measures on the spot," but critics noted that multiple players had joined the chant. The situation was resolved only after Gwangju Jeil's coaching staff protested and umpires intervened, with no visible action from Baejae beforehand.

In its statement, the school said it would refer the students involved to its student life education committee for disciplinary action under school rules and procedures. It also pledged to conduct special education sessions for the entire baseball team covering sportsmanship, human rights awareness, community values and athlete ethics, and promised ongoing programs to strengthen students' historical awareness, respect for others and a proper culture of support.

Some observers questioned the sincerity of the apology after noticing that the document bore a watermark from Google's AI tool Gemini. "Did they use an AI template even for an official apology on such a sensitive matter?" one commenter wrote, while another said it "looks like even the apology was handled mechanically."

A Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education official said the agency "plans to review whether to investigate Baejae High School" over the incident.

The Korea Baseball Softball Association said it plans to convene its sports fairness committee to decide on disciplinary measures. An association official said that "as a complaint has been filed, we plan to conduct our own investigation," adding that "questions of responsibility for managing the players will also be reviewed."