Let's Give Up on the College Entrance Exam and Dreams?! Controversy Over 'Support Banners'

People Power Party's Park Jae-i, Banner Supporting Examinees
'Good Game' but Also Means 'Giving Up'

"Our sons and daughters, let's GG both the CSAT and dreams and play (LoL)~"

A banner put up by a People Power Party official to encourage test-takers ahead of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) has sparked controversy. The phrase can be interpreted as meaning "give up on the CSAT and dreams and just play games."

[Photo by Internet Community Capture]

On the 13th, a photo of a banner hanging in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, with the phrase "Our sons and daughters, let's GG both the CSAT and dreams and play (LoL)~" spread across online communities. The banner was put up by Park Jae-i, a labor committee member of the People Power Party, to encourage students preparing for the CSAT.

The term "GG" used on the banner is slang originating from "Good Game." In the early days of first-generation e-sports, it was used as a greeting to the opponent at the end of a game or when the outcome was certain, meaning "it was a good match." "LoL" is the English abbreviation for the game League of Legends, chosen because its pronunciation is similar to the Korean word "놀" (nol), meaning "play."

Park, who serves as the president of the Goyang-si e-sports association, is interpreted to have wanted to convey the message "Let's finish both the CSAT and dreams well with a good game and then play," using popular gaming terms among students.

The problem is that the expression "GG" on the banner is now also used with a different meaning. Beyond its original meaning, "GG" is used to mean "give up" or "game over." When a player acknowledges that winning is no longer possible, they say "GG chinda" (meaning "I’m calling GG" or "I surrender").

In other words, for teenagers, the phrase can be read as "Let's give up on the CSAT and dreams and just play games."

Netizens criticized this, saying, "I don't understand why they used a term that has long been used to mean 'surrender' or 'give up,'" and "Using a term that is used when a loss is certain in a banner encouraging CSAT test-takers is inappropriate," pointing out it was a mistake by an older generation politician who does not fully understand gaming culture.

In response, a representative of the Goyang-si e-sports association told Kukmin Ilbo, "Although the phrase can be misunderstood, the word 'GG' originally stands for 'Good Game,' meaning 'it was a good match.'" They added, "The banner was put up with the intention of encouraging students to fight until the end, achieve good results, and finish well with a good match before playing. We hope people will view it positively despite the potential for misunderstanding."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.