Players and staff from Baejaego's baseball team visit Gwangju Jeil High School on Monday to deliver a letter of apology. [Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education]
Players and staff from Baejaego's baseball team visit Gwangju Jeil High School on Monday to deliver a letter of apology. [Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education]

The Baejaego High School baseball team, which sparked controversy over chants denigrating the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement during a game against Gwangju Jeil High School, issued a formal apology Monday. The players said they would "live with a spirit of deep reflection and remorse."

Players and staff from Baejaego traveled to Gwangju Jeil High School on Monday afternoon to deliver the apology in person. "We sincerely apologize to the players, parents and citizens of Gwangju who were deeply hurt by the inappropriate remarks and conduct of Baejaego players at the Cheongnyonggi baseball tournament held at Mokdong Baseball Stadium on June 29 — a place that should be filled with dreams and hope," the team said in its statement.

The apology letter, written in the name of the team captain, said all players, including himself, were "sincerely and deeply reflecting on this incident." "Beyond baseball, we have come to realize how important character and attitude are in life, and to learn that lesson again," it said.

The letter continued: "Causing such serious mental distress and hardship to the Gwangju Jeil players was something we, as fellow athletes, should never have done and should never have happened. We caused great pain. We are truly sorry." The team repeated its apology multiple times throughout the statement.

The team's coach also offered his own apology, saying the players' chants disparaging Gwangju Jeil High School were "a wrong that cannot be excused by anything." "As a coach who should have guided and taught the students well, I bear the greatest responsibility, and I sincerely apologize," he said.

He said he had failed to properly teach the players the respect for opponents and the sportsmanship expected of student athletes in a game that should be clean and fair. "Saying that I was so focused on winning that I failed to recognize the wrong chants in time and could not stop them is nothing more than an excuse," he said.

School staff characterized the incident as stemming not from a simple lapse or mistake but from "a total breakdown in ethical awareness and historical consciousness."

In a joint statement, Baejaego faculty said the chants had damaged the spirit of sport through mockery and slander. "Using derogatory chants that linked Gwangju Jeil High School to the May 18 Democratization Movement reveals that members of the Baejaego community did not sufficiently share an awareness of ethical and historical issues," they said.

Baejaego said it is conducting an internal investigation and disciplinary proceedings related to the incident. The school said it would "faithfully cooperate with investigations by various agencies" and would treat the episode as "an opportunity for the entire school community — not just the students — to reflect and examine itself."


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