Conservative civic groups warn against excessive punishment in Baejae High School baseball team controversy

Conservative civic groups in the South Jeolla Province and Gwangju region said Wednesday that while the inappropriate chants by Baejae High School baseball players were regrettable, excessive punishment and social retribution must be kept in check.

Thirty-six conservative civic organizations, including the National Alliance for the Defense of the State, issued a joint statement saying some of the players' chants "could have caused psychological distress to local residents and were inappropriate behavior." The groups called on the students to reflect on their conduct and offer a sincere apology, and urged the school and its coaches to examine whether they had done enough to manage the situation at the scene.

The groups drew a distinction, however, between acknowledging wrongdoing and endorsing every form of punishment that follows. "Education should be a process of helping people recognize their mistakes and grow from them," the statement said.

Regarding the Korea Baseball Softball Association's decision to ban the Baejae High School team from national competitions for six months, the groups said the suspension "could amount to an irreversible setback for high school players preparing for college or professional careers." They said they opposed both collective punishment that treats the entire team as a group of offenders and what they called "personal lynching" — targeting individual students as outlets for broader social anger.