South Korean Starbucks boss apologizes again for ad campaign that sparked massacre

Seoul, South Korea – South Korean trade expert Chung Yong-jin on Tuesday issued his second apology in two weeks as Starbucks faces fire over a recent marketing campaign widely seen as mocking the victims of a bloody 1980 military attack on pro-democracy protesters.

Chung, chairman of the Shinsegae Group, which owns 67.5% of Starbucks Korea, bowed three times during a televised speech as he asked for forgiveness from the families of democracy activists killed by the former military dictatorship and from the wider community.

The coffee chain sparked public outrage when it tried to promote the super-sized bowl it calls a “tank” by declaring May 18 “Tank Day.” That's a reminder of a pro-democracy uprising in the southern city of Gwangju that was brutally suppressed by troops, tanks and helicopters, killing or injuring hundreds.

The campaign fueled outrage by using the slogan “Flip it on the table!”, which many read as a reference to the infamous 1987 police statement that tried to cover up the torture death of student activist Park Jong-chol. Police said Park died suddenly after investigators “thwacked the desk.”

The promotion was met with immediate outrage and within hours Shinsegae canceled it and fired the CEO of Starbucks Korea. The police also opened an investigation based on the complaints of the families of the people killed in Gwangju.

“I take … very seriously that many people feel a lot of pain and anger because of Starbucks Korea's unfair marketing campaign,” Chung said on Tuesday.

He also asked people not to take their frustration out on the employees of Starbucks stores, saying that the responsibility lies with the management. There were no immediate reports of major incidents at the stores.

Chung issued his first apology on May 19, saying in a statement that the campaign had caused “deep pain to the victims and bereaved families of the May 18 Democratization Movement and to the community.”

Jeon Sangjin, chief executive officer of Shinsegae Group, said the company has yet to find conclusive evidence that Starbucks Korea's marketing staff intended to mock the pro-democracy movement, a charge the staff deny.

However, he said some employees refused management's requests to hand over their smartphones during the week-long internal review. Jeon said the company will look into the results of the police investigation and any employee found to have the intention of mocking the protesters will be fired.

Outrage over the campaign sparked public calls for a boycott, which was raised by government officials, including Home Affairs and Security Minister Yoon Ho-jung, who said Starbucks products would no longer be used at government events and lamented the “unhistorical behavior” of the chain.

A Shinsegae official told Reuters news agency that sales had fallen sharply after the marketing dispute.

President Lee Jae Myung said on X last week that the campaign showed “the immoral and shameful behavior of cheap profiteers who deny the values ​​of South Korean society, basic human rights and democracy.”

The attack in Gwangju came months after General Chun Doo-hwan took power in a coup in late 1979. Government records show that about 200 people died in Gwangju, but activists say the actual death toll was much higher. Chun's government also arrested tens of thousands, saying it was eradicating evil from society.

Public anger at Chun's dictatorship led to mass protests across the country in 1987, forcing him to accept a constitutional revision that introduced direct presidential elections widely seen as the beginning of South Korea's transition to democracy.