A controversy over a "Starbucks ceremony" by Baejae High School baseball players has prompted calls to bar the students from the KBO draft, but analysts say such a move is unlikely to be realized.
From Chant Controversy to Investigations by Association and Education Office
During the first-round match between Baejae High School and Gwangju Ilgo at the 81st Chungryongki National High School Baseball Championship, held at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul on June 29, the Baejae High players reportedly chanted "Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks" repeatedly while performing a group dance.
One student also shouted "Tank Day." These are the same expressions—"Tank Day" and "tap on the desk"—that Starbucks Korea used ahead of the anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in May, drawing criticism for trivializing the event. The students effectively transformed those words into cheering chants against a school from the Gwangju region.
Gwangju Ilgo's coaching staff protested and asked that the chants be stopped. After the game, Baejae High's manager and coaches visited the opposing dugout to apologize, it was confirmed. However, the fallout appears to be spreading rapidly.
The Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) plans to convene its Sports Fair Play Committee over the matter, and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has launched a separate investigation into the Baejae High students. Separately, the principal of Gwangju Ilgo visited the KBSA to deliver a letter of protest.
Can Draft Sanctions Be Imposed?
As the controversy intensified, voices erupted on social media calling for the players who were in the dugout to be barred from the draft. One online user argued, "They need to realize the weight of the words they uttered," and "Their participation in the draft should be blocked."
But a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) official said, "What the KBO can do regarding this draft is limited," adding that "a player must receive a disciplinary penalty of suspension or higher due to school violence for their participation in the KBO draft to be restricted," in remarks to Yonhap News.
Currently, Article 108, Clause 4 of Chapter 11 of the KBO regulations on rookie players stipulates only that "the KBO may restrict a player who has applied to participate in the rookie draft from joining the KBO draft and a professional club until the sanction period expires, if the player has received a penalty of suspension or higher from a school, the Korea Baseball Softball Association, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, or other baseball-related event-organizing bodies due to school violence."
Because the clause limits the grounds to "school violence," there appears to be no direct basis to bar the Baejae High students from participating in the draft in this case, analysts say.
Still, for professional clubs sensitive to fan sentiment, drafting a player who has caused social controversy is expected to weigh heavily in itself.
As the controversy over trivializing the May 18 movement, which began a month ago with a corporate marketing campaign, has spread to cheering chants on a high school playing field, the uproar is showing signs of expanding into a new phase rather than dying down.
A baseball team mocked its opponent while referencing the Starbucks incident.
