Internal probe finds no definitive intent to mock Korea’s democratic movements Shinsegae Group Chair Chung Yong-jin bows in apology during a press conference at Josun Palace in Seoul on Tuesday. (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald) Shinsegae Group Chair Chung Yong-jin on Tuesday bowed in apology over Starbucks Korea’s controversial “Tank Day” marketing campaign, vowing to make himself fully accountable for the incident.“To the bereaved families of the May 18 Democratic Movement and late activist Park Jong-chul, the citizens of Gwangju and the Korean people, I wholeheartedly bow in apology and ask for forgiveness as the chair of Shinsegae Group,” said Chung, speaking at a press conference at Josun Palace in Seoul.“I will make no excuses. Every responsibility about this matter falls on me. It’s my fault. All members of Shinsegae Group, including myself, will always remember the history and sacrifice of our society and deeply understand and respect the people’s hearts.”Chung then defended the Starbucks Korea employees who are currently serving customers despite the controversy, asking customers to have a warm-hearted attitude towards them as they are just employees.“We will overhaul our internal system and risk management system from the very bottom and strengthen the standards for social responsibility,” he said.“Today’s apology will not be the end but a beginning. We will walk the walk to make real changes and start over from the beginning to earn the trust of the public.”Although Shinsegae announced the initial findings of an internal investigation into the incident, the company said it could not determine whether the controversial marketing phrases had been intentionally drafted to insult Korea's democratic movements.According to Shinsegae, the three members of Starbucks Korea’s commerce team who had proposed “Tank Day” as the name for the campaign to promote its Tank tumblers refused to submit their smartphones for forensic investigation, citing privacy issues. Some of them were quoted as saying that they were just trying to use a set of similar sounding phrases, that they asked artificial intelligence for ideas and that they did not think such phrases would be a problem.Regarding the marketing campaign's approval process, Shinsegae said the commerce team’s proposal had been signed first by the team leader, then the manager, division leader and CEO before it was launched. The retail conglomerate admitted that no one had raised any issues with the “Tank Day” marketing pitch ahead of its May 18 launch.It added that some of those involved did not even open the attached image in the email that contained the controversial phrases during the approval process. The legal team had not checked the material either, as the coffee chain prioritized the timing of the marketing campaign. Shinsegae Group Chair Chung Yong-jin apologizes in a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday. (Kan Hyeong-woo/The Korea Herald) Starbucks Korea faced heavy backlash over the promotion campaign for its Tank tumbler product launched May 18, which included the expressions “Tank Day” and “Bang on the desk.” The former was widely criticized for evoking the military tanks used to suppress the Gwangju Democratic Uprising on May 18, 1980, in which hundreds of civilians were killed. The latter phrase was reminiscent of an expression used in the military regime’s attempted cover-up of the torture death of student activist Park Jong-chul in 1987.Chung, Starbucks Korea issued initial apologies on May 19 and Starbucks' US headquarters apologized the next day.Starbucks Korea's division leader and CEO were fired shortly after the incident, while other employees linked to the campaign have been suspended from duty, according to Shinsegae.Due to the limitations in self-investigation, Shinsegae pledged to cooperate fully with the police investigation into the incident. A civic group has filed a police complaint against Chung and former Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jeong-hyun on charges including defamation.Emart, Shinsegae Group’s core retail unit led by de facto chief Chung, holds a 67.5 percent stake in Starbucks Korea. With the anti-Starbucks movement spreading across the country, Shinsegae officials said Starbucks Korea's sales had plummeted since last week, but did not share exact numbers.Shinsegae noted that Starbucks’ US headquarters was also taking the matter seriously. The two sides have been sharing updates regarding the ongoing situation.The Korean retail conglomerate said there was nothing to share regarding the possibility of Starbucks activating its call option to buy back shares in Starbucks Korea from Emart. When Emart acquired an additional 700,000 shares in unlisted Starbucks Korea from Starbucks Coffee International, the overseas business and licensing arm of Starbucks, for 474.3 billion won ($314 million) in July 2021, the agreement gave SCI a call option to buy back Emart’s 67.5 percent stake at a 35 percent discount to a mutually agreed fair valuation.