Paejae High School Baseball Team Suspended for 6 Months Over Derogatory Chants

[Anchor]

The Paejae High School baseball team has been handed a heavy penalty of a six-month suspension following controversy over derogatory chants targeting a specific region. The school will forfeit its game scheduled for tomorrow, July 2, and will effectively be unable to participate in any remaining major national tournaments for the rest of the year.

Reporter Jeon Yeongmin has the story.

[Reporter]

[We should go, we should go, we should go to Starbucks.]

[Tank Day]

The Sports Fair Committee of the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) decided today to impose a six-month suspension from national tournaments on the Paejae High School baseball team, which sparked outrage for mocking the Gwangju Democratization Movement during their first-round match against Gwangju Jeil High School in the Blue Dragon Flag tournament.

The severe disciplinary action was based on the Korea Sport & Olympic Committee's disciplinary standards and the association's regulations regarding acts that disrupt order at sports venues.

[Lee Jun-seong/KBSA Public Relations Committee Member: It was applied as a disruption of the game, which served as the basis for the six-month suspension. I understand that this conclusion was reached after reviewing not only this specific clause but also various regulations from the Korea Sport & Olympic Committee and the KBSA Sports Fair Committee.]

As a result, Paejae High School will forfeit its second-round match against Suncheon Hyocheon High School scheduled for tomorrow, July 2, and will be unable to play.

Paejae High School manager Kwon O-young attended the hearing to explain the situation at the time and bowed his head with a grim expression.

[Kwon O-young/Paejae High School Manager: I am sorry. I am unconditionally sorry.]

Gwangju Jeil High School manager Jo Yun-chae expressed his hope that the matter would be resolved so that the players would not be hurt any further.

[Jo Yun-chae/Gwangju Jeil High School Manager: There might be some minor teasing or mocking between students, but I have never seen anything like this before. Since students are involved and it has become such a major issue in the country, I hope it is resolved well. They are just kids, after all.]

The Fair Committee plans to conduct further investigations during the suspension period to determine the level of disciplinary action for individual coaches and players.

(Video coverage by Yang Du-won | Video editing by Lee Seung-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.