Baejae High School, which previously sparked controversy with derogatory slogans related to the May 18 Democratization Movement, is now embroiled in a fresh controversy, is that correct?
Yes. Baejae High School, which caused a public uproar due to its baseball team's derogatory cheering chants about the May 18 movement, visited Gwangju Jeil High School to apologize and subsequently conducted "democratic citizenship education" as a follow-up measure.
However, another controversy arose when a student who attended the session shared the situation in an interview with a youth media outlet.
The student claimed that out of more than 30 students in the class, only two, including the student, stayed awake, while most of the others slept.
The student also stated that Lee Jae-oh, the chairman of the Korea Democracy Foundation who led the lecture, said something to the effect of, "You can sleep if you want, but those who want to listen should listen properly," which prompted the students to start dozing off.
Chairman Lee Jae-oh explained, "I merely meant that directly mentioning May 18 hate speech could backfire, not that they should actually sleep."
The student added that the educational content itself was also disappointing.
According to the student, the lecture only explained that hate speech exists and should not be used, without properly teaching which expressions are used and why they are problematic.
The student further remarked, "There are no students who have a serious sense of crisis that our school is in big trouble."
Critics point out that while apologies and disciplinary actions are important, practical education is needed to help students deeply reflect on why their actions were wrong.
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