"What Is That 'Red Subtitle' on the Player's Back?"... Lotte Giants YouTube Faces 'Ilbe' Controversy

Subtitle Placed Above Noh Jin-hyuk's Uniform Sparks Ilbe Controversy
Club Apologizes: "We Did Not Recognize the Potential Association"

There have been criticisms that the subtitles in a game video uploaded to the official YouTube channel of the Lotte Giants, a professional baseball team, evoke expressions used in "Ilbe Storehouse" (Ilbe), a far-right online community. As the controversy grew, the club edited the video and issued an apology.

On May 11, the official Lotte Giants YouTube channel, "Giants TV," uploaded a video related to the previous day's game against the KIA Tigers at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium. The video featured the atmosphere in the dugout and players' reactions during the game, in which Lotte defeated KIA 7-3.

The controversial scene appeared when Lotte players were shown clapping and celebrating a hit. In this scene, the production team placed the subtitle "Infinite Applause" right next to the character "No," which is the family name on Noh Jin-hyuk's uniform.

Viewers pointed out that the placement and combination of the subtitle were inappropriate. They noted that positioning the player’s surname and the subtitle phrase side by side reminded many of an expression used on Ilbe to disparage the late former President Roh Moo-hyun.

Controversy further intensified because Noh Jin-hyuk is from Gwangju, and the video covered a game against the KIA Tigers, who are based in Gwangju. Additional criticism was raised, saying the club should have been especially careful since the release coincided with the lead-up to the anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising.

Online reactions included, "How could they do something so shameful on the official channel?," "Regardless of intent, this placement is inappropriate," and "The club needs to implement measures to prevent recurrence at an organizational level."

As the controversy spread, the Giants TV team deleted the original video and re-uploaded an edited version with revised subtitles. In a pinned comment, they stated, "We sincerely apologize for causing discomfort and concern due to the subtitle expressions in today’s uploaded video."

They further explained, "The problematic subtitle was used during filming and editing without fully recognizing the possibility of such associations. We take this lack of thorough review seriously." They added, "Going forward, we will conduct even more rigorous checks throughout the content production and review process to prevent similar incidents from recurring."