Fans of Lotte Giants sang "Bennori," their cheerleading anthem, during Wednesday's home match against NC Dinos at Sajik Baseball Stadium. The act brought blasphemy onto themselves as the song's purpose spiritually betrayed the tragedy that happened on the same day of the game.



By Ko Dong-hwan

A baseball club fan raised national ire for nonchalantly singing the cheering theme song, as others saw it as a betrayal to Wednesday's ferry tragedy, Sports DongA said Thursday.

Fans of Korean Baseball League's Lotte Giants altogether sang "Bennori" (vessel song) on Wednesday during its home match against NC Dinos at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan.

The song's title is highly reminiscent of the sunken ferry "Sewol," since it contains the Korean word for "ship." The link sounds especially true when the song was sung on the same day the accident occurred.

Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) had advised crowds in the stadium ahead of the match to refrain from vivaciously expressing their fandom with noisy devices or songs. It had also requested to shut down all events planned between innings and cheerleading.

Giants fans simply undermined KBO's concern. They not only used amplifiers as a means of party booster, but also stuck dearly to creating unison by singing their thematic chant.

Leader of Giants' cheerleading team later posted on Twitter an apology, saying he was sorry about the mishap, and asking for continued supports.

But netizens are still posting hateful comments, saying Giants' fans had crossed the most sensible line during a grave time.