It has been confirmed that student athletes from the Paichai High School baseball team, who sparked controversy for mocking the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, submitted written statements claiming they were unaware that their cheers constituted hate speech.
According to the written statements of 36 student athletes from the Paichai High School baseball team, submitted by the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-min, the majority of the students claimed they did not realize terms such as "Starbucks" and "Tank Day" were expressions used to disparage the democratization movement.
In their statements, the student athletes wrote, "We made the remarks without knowing the historical context, but we are deeply reflecting on our actions."
Student A, who led the chant "Let's go to Starbucks," claimed it was intended to boost team morale.
"I only thought about the team atmosphere and had absolutely no intention of disparaging Gwangju," Student A wrote.
He added, "The controversy regarding Starbucks in Gwangju suddenly came to mind, which led me to use that cheer."
Student B, who shouted "Tank Day," also stated, "I just remembered that there was a 'Tank Day' event at Starbucks. I did not know it was related to the May 18 movement, nor did I know what had happened at Starbucks."
However, evidence suggests that some student athletes were aware that the expressions were derogatory.
One Paichai High School student stated in his report, "Around the middle of the game, the cheer 'Starbucks bang-ya' (bang-ya is an onomatopoeia for a gunshot) came up, so I asked the other kids, 'Why is Starbucks suddenly being mentioned?' I was told it was about the May 18 Gwangju movement, so I thought we shouldn't do it."
Another student wrote in his statement, "I heard the talk about Starbucks, and I felt it wasn't right, so I warned Student A, saying, 'Hey, this isn't right. Don't do it.'"
It was found that the mocking cheers by the Paichai High School baseball team began early in the game.
When the opposing pitcher fell, there was a provocation shouting, "What did you do last night?" and it was investigated that someone shouted "Tank Day" loudly during the fourth inning offense.
Paichai High School has initiated disciplinary procedures, including referring Students A and B, who shouted the controversial cheers, to the school's disciplinary committee.
Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Choi Kang-san | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
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