Seoul education chief apologizes over Baejae High baseball players' 'Starbucks' chant, orders sports ethics training

By Kim Yong-jae, The Herald Business

Seoul Superintendent of Education Jeong Geun-sik has apologized over a controversy in which some baseball players from Baejae High School chanted "Let's go to Starbucks" at a high school baseball tournament — a remark widely seen as mocking Gwangju, home of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising.

Jeong issued a statement Wednesday, saying he "bows his head in deep apology" to the student athletes and parents of Gwangju Jeil High School, its alumni, and "the citizens of Gwangju and people across the country who carry the historical pain" of the May 18 uprising.

"Student sports, before being a competition to determine winners and losers, is an educational arena for learning respect, responsibility and fair play," Jeong said. "What must be learned before winning against an opponent is the attitude of respecting that opponent."

Jeong also said hateful and demeaning language spreading online was seeping into students' daily lives and onto the playing field. "Civic and history education — in which students properly learn about the pain of May 18 and other chapters of our modern history, empathize with others' wounds, and respect regions and people — must be carried out more deeply and meaningfully," he said.

Regarding the Korea Baseball Softball Association's decision to impose a six-month competition ban on the Baejae High baseball team, Jeong said he accepted the ruling "gravely, as a measure that reflects the seriousness of this matter," while adding that "in student sports, disciplinary action should not be an end but a starting point for educational recovery."

However, Jeong said personal attacks or excessive criticism targeting individual students must be avoided. "The process of holding people accountable must also take place within the principles and procedures of education," he said. "It is education's role to help students reflect on their actions and grow again through learning."

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said it would review how the school handled the incident, examine its system for supervising student athletes, assess what on-site measures were taken, and check plans for recurrence-prevention education — ensuring that necessary steps are carried out according to established principles and procedures.

The office also directed all school athletic programs under its jurisdiction to conduct emergency training aimed at eliminating discriminatory and hateful language and fostering a healthy cheering culture. It also plans to strengthen human rights education, sports ethics education and historical awareness education for coaches as well as student athletes.

"I again express my deep regret and offer words of comfort to the student athletes and parents of Gwangju Jeil High School who were hurt by this incident, and to the citizens of Gwangju who have lived with the pain of May 18," Jeong said. "I will take responsibility to the end and remain vigilant so that the same pain is never repeated."