Ex-regulatory vice chair says President Lee fueled Paichai High School controversy

Lee Byung-tae, a former Blue House official, claimed that President Lee Jae Myung was responsible for fueling the controversy surrounding chants made by Paichai High School’s baseball team, which were criticized as mocking the May 18 Democratization Movement.

"President Lee Jae Myung is responsible for triggering the Paichai High School controversy,” the former vice chairman of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

“Why did I argue that Gwangju had become a sacred topic?” the former regulatory vice chair added. “It is because those who seek to claim control over how certain events, including its history and the Sewol ferry disaster, are interpreted use them as tools of factional politics by labeling opponents and attacking their character.”

Lee Byung-tae sparked controversy after saying that “May 18 had become sacrosanct" in response to Paichai High School’s baseball team receiving severe disciplinary action over "Let's go to Starbucks!" and "Tank Day!" chants toward students from Gwangju Jeil High School. The chants were criticized for referencing Starbucks Korea's "Tank Day" marketing campaign, accused of using phrases that mocked the May 18 Gwangju democracy movement in its promotional materials.

Lee Byung-tae is a conservative figure who was previously appointed to a vice-prime-minister-level post in what the Lee Jae Myung administration described as an effort at national unity. His main role was to review and eliminate unnecessary regulations and advise the president on major regulatory reforms.

Criticism grew among the Democratic Party, and the presidential office recommended he resign from the regulatory vice chair position. He stepped down on July 6, the same day the recommendation was made.

In the Facebook post, Lee Byung-tae linked the controversy surrounding Paichai High School to President Lee’s criticism of Starbucks Korea’s campaign.

“The issue began with his thoughtless late-night social media post, in which he viewed Starbucks Korea’s marketing through a reckless conspiracy theory lens and portrayed it as mocking tragic events from Korea’s democratization,” He wrote, referring to President Lee.

President Lee criticized Starbucks Korea’s “Tank Day” promotion, calling it an "inhumane and disastrous behavior of a low-class merchant that denies the Korean community, basic human rights and the values of democracy” in a post on X.

Lee Byung-tae called the president's post an "example of public conflict caused by the arrogance of a person in power who appointed himself as a judge of history."

"I told the presidential office’s secretary for social cohesion that the president should apologize," he added. "I do not know whether that message was delivered, but the person responsible for causing this issue has continued to pretend not to know anything."

He added that he would continue to ask, “Who was responsible for fueling the conflict between Honam and non-Honam regions through factional politics? Was it Lee Byung-tae or President Lee?” Honam refers to the region encompassing Gwangju and Jeolla provinces.

BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]