The baseball entertainment program Fireworks Baseball 2 has decided not to air the match between the Fireworks Fighters and Pai Chai High School.
Studio C1, the production company behind Fireworks Baseball 2, announced on its official YouTube channel on July 1, "The production team has taken the recent issues regarding Pai Chai High School very seriously, and we have decided not to air the 'Pai Chai High School' episode, which was scheduled for broadcast on July 6." They added, "We ask for the viewers' kind understanding."
The company further stated, "We will return with the 'Seongnam High School' episode on July 13 at 8:00 PM."
The decision by Studio C1 follows an incident that occurred during the Pai Chai High School vs. Gwangju Jeil High School match at the 81st Blue Dragon National High School Baseball Championship, held at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul on June 29. During the game, Pai Chai High School baseball players were heard chanting, "Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks," toward the Gwangju Jeil High School dugout, and even shouted the slogan "Tank Day."
Gwangju Jeil High School protested through the umpires, saying, "Stop it. Why are you bringing up Starbucks?" leading the umpires to issue a warning to the Pai Chai High School side. As videos of the incident spread across YouTube and online communities, the Pai Chai High School baseball team faced heavy criticism for allegedly mocking the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement and disparaging the region.
Although Pai Chai High School issued two letters of apology to address the situation, public sentiment remained cold. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Pai Chai High School expressed its intention to visit Gwangju Jeil High School in person today, July 1, to offer a sincere apology. However, it was reported that Gwangju Jeil High School requested them to reconsider, stating that "the students are not yet mentally prepared to accept an apology."
On June 7, the players of Fireworks Baseball 2 played a match against the student athletes of Pai Chai High School at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, which was broadcast live on the SBS Plus channel that day. An edited version of this broadcast was scheduled to be released on the production company Studio C1's YouTube channel on July 6, but the production team decided to cancel the broadcast following the controversy over Pai Chai High School's alleged regional disparagement.
(Reported by Kim Ji-hye | SBS Entertainment News)
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