As controversy over "region-disparaging cheering" that arose at the national high school baseball tournament spread, Paejae High School decided to allow students to wear casual clothes to school for the time being to protect them.
According to Paejae High School parents on the 3rd, the school guided students that starting that day they could come to school in casual clothes instead of uniforms. It was a preemptive step taken as concerns grew that students in uniforms could be mocked or face threats to their safety outside.
The fallout from the controversy is also spreading around the school. In front of the Paejae High School gate in Gangdong District, Seoul, beginning on the 1st, condolence wreaths criticizing the baseball team students and cheering wreaths rebutting them were placed one after another. Gangdong District Office began removing the wreaths after complaints from parents and citizens that they were obstructing pedestrians.
The school also began disciplinary proceedings for the students involved in the controversy. According to the "Paejae High School baseball team on-site inspection report" received by Rep. Kang Kyung-sook of the National Assembly Education Committee from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Paejae High School decided to refer two students who led the problematic chants to the School Life Education Committee. It is also reviewing whether to additionally refer other students who joined in the cheering at the time.
Meanwhile, the controversy occurred during the game between Paejae High School and Gwangju Jeil High School at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul on the 29th of last month at the Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship. At the time, a second-year Paejae High School student, A, shouted "We should go to Starbucks," and surrounding students echoed it, it was found. Then student B was found to have shouted the chant "Tank Day."
After the controversy, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education sent an official notice to all elementary, middle and high schools in the city that run athletic programs, instructing them to ban expressions of hate and discrimination during training and competitions and to conduct sports human rights education. It also plans to visit those schools in person by Aug. 17 to conduct a full survey of whether the related education is being properly carried out.