2 Paichai High baseball players quit following Starbucks chant controversy

Two members of Paichai High School's baseball team have decided to quit the sport following controversy over chants mocking South Korea’s pro-democracy movement in the 1980s, news reports said Tuesday.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, the students recently informed the school of their decision to leave the baseball team.

The team faced backlash after several Paichai players made controversial remarks during their June 29 opening-round game against Gwangju Jeil High School in the Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship.

Some players repeatedly chanted, "We have to go, we have to go, we have to go to Starbucks," toward Gwangju Jeil’s dugout, while another shouted, "Tank Day."

The remarks were linked to a Starbucks Korea promotion in May that prompted controversy for recalling the military crackdown on the Gwangju Democratic Uprising. The players apparently used the references to ridicule their opponents from Gwangju.

In response, the Korea Baseball Softball Association imposed a six-month suspension from national tournaments on the team on Aug. 1.

The penalty was later reduced to one month after all 36 members of the school’s baseball team visited Gwangju Jeil High School to apologize and paid their respects at the May 18 National Cemetery.

Paichai High School’s student disciplinary committee also suspended the two students who led the controversial chants from school for 10 days. Ten others who joined in received lighter punishment.