Baseball players from Baejae High School, who sparked controversy over cheering chants mocking the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, bowed their heads in apology at Gwangju First High School on Saturday. The inappropriate chants heard at the ballpark left deep wounds among Gwangju First High players and Gwangju citizens, but the apology meeting proceeded warmly. Gwangju First High accepted the Baejae students' apology and responded in the spirit of "let us play fair and square again," and students from both schools paid their respects together at the Gwangju Students' Independence Movement Memorial Tower and the May 18th National Cemetery. While it was an occasion to admit wrongdoing and apologize, it also became a time for the students to relearn the meaning of history and respect.
The captain of the Baejae High baseball team said before the Gwangju First High players, "I sincerely apologize to the Gwangju First High players, their parents, and the citizens of Gwangju who were deeply hurt by inappropriate remarks and actions." The coach also acknowledged his responsibility for guiding the players, saying, "Regional slur cheers are a wrong that can be justified by nothing." Gwangju First High accepted the apology. Lee Kyu-yeon, principal of Gwangju First High, said, "Apologizing from the heart is important, but what matters more is living well going forward," adding, "For both schools to stand tall in a more developed form as a result of this incident is true reconciliation and forgiveness."
However, voices within and outside the education community point out that this incident should not be patched over with student discipline and apologies alone. They argue that the environment in which adolescents are repeatedly exposed to historical distortion and regional hate content online and consume it as if it were jokes or cheering chants must first be changed. While holding the students who erred accountable is necessary, they reason that if the structure in which distortion and ridicule continue to circulate online is left as is, similar controversies will inevitably repeat at any time.
Indeed, posts distorting the May 18 Democratization Movement or disparaging the Gwangju and Jeolla regions continue online without end. According to reporting compiled by The Seoul Economic Daily, the May 18 Memorial Foundation requested action from platforms such as Threads and Instagram regarding 146 of the democratization movement distortion reports received in May this year. Including these, reports related to 5·18 distortion received by the foundation in May and June reached at least 1,910. The Korean National Police Agency also said Saturday that it had investigated 74 accounts that spread false information such as "North Korean troops were involved during the 5·18 Democratization Movement," arresting nine suspects and referring three of them to prosecutors.
Most of the reported posts distorted 5·18 through short sentences and provocative mocking expressions. Expressions that erased the historical context of the martial law troops opening fire and cut out only parts of the citizens' resistance to turn them into sarcasm were repeated, and posts spreading the theory of North Korean troop involvement as if it were fact were also confirmed, using claims such as "CIA documents have been released" or "there is National Intelligence Service data." There were also many expressions mocking the remembrance and truth-finding efforts themselves, as well as disparaging slang aimed at the Gwangju and Jeolla regions. According to the foundation, related posts were most frequently confirmed on Threads, followed by Instagram. Distortion content also continues to spread on YouTube and X (formerly Twitter).
Experts point out that reinforcing discipline alone clearly has limits for students placed in such an environment. Park Ju-hyung, professor of education at Gyeongin National University of Education, said, "Strengthening discipline is not the answer; this problem will only be solved when essential aspects, such as the problem and impact of hate speech, are included in school education."
In particular, some point out that excessive intervention by the political sphere further complicates the situation and spreads the controversy, and thus should be exercised with restraint. In fact, in the case in which Wony (real name Jung Won-i), a member of the popular idol group Lycienne, made the remark "museopno" on her own YouTube channel on the 28th of last month and became embroiled in controversy over Ilbe (Ilgan Best), a far-right online community, political intervention took place, including former Rebuilding Korea Party leader Cho Kuk joining in the criticism.
Park Chang-hwan, adjunct professor at Jangan University, said, "The political sphere responds to each and every issue in an excessively ideologically biased or black-and-white manner, failing to show a wise approach to resolving problems," adding, "It is undesirable to view problems that can be resolved within each respective domain through a political lens and respond excessively."
