After doxxing and funeral wreaths, educators say players need refresher on respect

The six-month penalty imposed on Paichai High School baseball athletes for cheering politically offensive chants is spreading to the education sector, where educators and sports officials are calling on schools to focus on teaching students about respect — rather than mockery and hateful language — in dugouts.

On Monday, some players from Seoul-based Paichai High School repeatedly shouted "Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks” during their match against Gwangju Jeil High School during the 81st Blue Dragon Flag National High School Baseball Championship held at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in western Seoul.

The remarks appeared to have referenced Starbucks Korea's controversial "Tank Day" promotion, which took place on May 18 this year. The promotion faced intense backlash for allegedly mocking the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, which was brutally suppressed in 1980 by the military regime ruling Korea at that time.

While the severity of the punishment — a six-month suspension from national tournaments — remains a matter of debate, educators warned that the focus should be on education rather than condemnation. They also caution against permanently labeling teenage athletes.

Respect before results

The controversy should not be dismissed as the misconduct of a few students, educators and sports experts said Thursday. They stressed that schools and coaches bear fundamental responsibility to teach young athletes where cheering ends and offensive or discriminatory language begins.

“Schools have long failed to give student athletes the education they need," said Cho Sang-sik, a professor at the Department of Education of Dongguk University. “The issue is not just the misconduct of individual students. We also need to examine whether schools and coaches have properly taught them that certain words are not cheering but can amount to ridicule and discrimination."

Following the incident, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education sent an official notice to schools with athletic teams. The document requested that schools strengthen education on hate speech and promote a healthier cheering culture.

"The first thing student athletes should learn is not athletic skill, but integrity and respect," Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said.

'Red card' for hate speech

Sports organizations around the world have also become increasingly strict in dealing with discriminatory and hateful behavior.

During the FIFA World Cup 2026 in North America, a Mexican spectator resigned from his occupational post after being accused of making a racist slant-eyes gesture toward a Korean fan. FIFA also blocked his account for ticket purchases for the World Cup.

At UEFA Euro 2024, Albania forward Mirlind Daku received a two-match suspension after leading chants insulting Serbia and North Macedonia through a megaphone after a match. The case underscored the growing view in international sports that remarks targeting ethnic groups or invoking historical conflicts can be considered hate speech.

The Korea Baseball Softball Association referred the case to its internal fair sports committee to review the case and handed down the six-month suspension on Paichai High School’s baseball team. The penalty takes effect from the second round of the Blue Dragon Flag National High School Baseball Championship.

Separate disciplinary reviews of the players and coaches involved are still underway.

'Education first' vs. 'Same as school bullying'

Educators are divided over whether the punishment is appropriate. Some argue that suspending an entire team is not the right way to educate student athletes.

"The players responsible should certainly be held accountable," an anonymous high school athletic coach in Seoul said. "But preventing the entire team from competing without distinguishing individual responsibility or the coaches' role went too far. The decision should not be driven by public pressure. There should be a clear process for determining who is responsible and how much responsibility each person bears."

The debate has also reached the political arena.

“Although the players' behavior was wrong, a six-month suspension was excessive, and that punitive stigmatization alone would not change anything,” independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon and several lawmakers from the conservative People Power Party said.

Others, however, argued that stern measures are required as the remarks went far beyond ordinary cheering or banter.

"It's common for high school baseball players to chant things intended to unsettle the opposing team," a 22-year-old former high school baseball player, who asked not to be identified, said. "But directly insulting a particular region or hometown is extremely unusual. It clearly crossed the line."

A high school teacher in Seoul echoed a similar view.

"If students repeatedly mocked a particular region or a historical event in the classroom, it could easily be treated as school bullying," the teacher said. "Given that school bullying records are increasingly taken into account in college admissions, it's difficult to say this punishment is simply excessive."

Doxxing, funeral wreaths: Are they the right way to educate?

Educators also warned that disciplinary action should not become a form of stigmatization against teenage athletes.

Lists of Paichai High baseball players and photos from games spread across online communities and social media. Some online users even argued that the players should be prevented from pursuing future careers in professional sports.

Funeral wreaths condemning Paichai High School and its baseball team were also placed outside the school's main gate.

"The remarks themselves must be addressed," another high school athletic coach in Seoul said. "But publicly shaming students is not the way to solve the problem. We need to understand why they invoked those words without recognizing how harmful they were and examine what schools and coaches failed to teach them."

Promises made for betterment

Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Jung Geun-sik publicly apologized and reiterated that view in a Facebook post Thursday.

"I take this incident extremely seriously and accept full responsibility," Jung said. “School sports are first and foremost a place for education, where students learn respect, responsibility and fair play. Before learning how to beat an opponent, students should first learn how to respect one.”

Jung added that he takes the association's decision very seriously, as it reflects the gravity of this case, but still asked for leniency considering the students' young age.

"We must guard against the spread of personal attacks or excessive criticism directed at individual students,” Jung said. “The process of holding students accountable must also be carried out in accordance with educational principles and proper procedures. The role of education is to help students reflect on their actions and grow through learning.”

Jung vowed to strengthen human rights and history education in school sports and establish a comprehensive system to prevent similar incidents from recurring under his supervision.

BY LEE HOO-YEON, KIM MIN-SANG AND JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]