High school baseball taunt spirals into a bomb threat as Paichai prepares to apologize
Police are investigating an online bomb threat at Gwangju Jeil High School as Paichai High School prepares an in-person apology over a taunt tied to the May 18 Gwangju uprising.
Funeral wreaths are set up in front of Paichai High School in Gangdong District, eastern Seoul, on July 2.NEWS1
What began as a taunting chant at a high school baseball game has escalated into a bomb threat. Police opened an investigation after someone posted a message online claiming to have planted explosives at Gwangju Jeil High School, the Gwangju school mocked last week by players from Paichai High School in Gangdong District, eastern Seoul.
The threat has raised concern that the uproar is hardening into a hate crime, especially as the Paichai team prepares to travel to Gwangju on Monday to apologize in person.
Police received the report Saturday, after a post appeared online saying the writer had planted a bomb at Gwangju Jeil for ruining the futures of Paichai's students. Officers and firefighters searched the campus for about two hours but found nothing.
The National Police Agency said Sunday it had opened an investigation into the threat,
"This act is a clear crime that violates students' right to learn and disrupts the public's peaceful daily life," the agency said.
Policewarned that anyone who posts further messages defaming the schools or their students, or issues bomb threats, will face immediate investigation on charges including violating the Information and Communications Network Act and making a public threat.
The scandal began when Paichai's players chanted "Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks” at Gwangju Jeil during a game last Monday at the Blue Dragon Flag National High School Baseball Championship — a jab that referenced Starbucks Korea's widely condemned May 18 "Tank Day" promotion and, through it, the 1980 Gwangju democratization movement. The Korea Baseball Softball Association suspended the team from national competition for six months on Wednesday.
The penalty has split opinion, and the fallout has yet to settle. The Paichai alumni association petitioned the baseball association for leniency on Friday.
"We sincerely ask you to show tolerance, so that a single experience can become a lifelong lesson and help them grow into more mature individuals," it said.
Student baseball players from Paichai High School are seen during the 81st Blue Dragon Flag National High School Baseball Championship at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in western Seoul on June 29.SCREEN CAPTURE
A conservative civic group, the Committee for the People's Livelihood, went the other way and filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, accusing association officials of coercion and obstruction of business and called the penalty "one-sided, unfair and unreasonable."
The apology visit is set for Monday afternoon. About 80 people, including 36 Paichai players along with parents and staff, will go to Gwangju Jeil at 3 p.m. to deliver their apology and then visit the May 18th National Cemetery with their hosts to pay respects, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said.
Gwangju Jeil has asked police to protect the school, and officers will be stationed nearby from the afternoon in case of trouble from outsiders.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
