Chung Yong-jin, the chairman of Shinsegae Group, makes a public apology for a marketing campaign by Starbucks Korea that evoked a 1980 massacre of pro-democracy protesters during a press conference held at the Josun Palace hotel in Seoul’s Gangnam neighborhood on May 26, 2025. (Ryu Woo-jong/Hankyoreh)
After investigating the “Tank Day” marketing campaign at Starbucks Korea that many saw as mocking the victims of a 1980 massacre of pro-democracy protesters by the military, the Shinsegae Group said it had been “unable to find any evidence of intentionality in the marketing campaign in question.”But the conglomerate said it had been limited in its ability to verify the facts since the employees involved had refused to turn over their mobile phones for review. The group also found that in the campaign’s planning and execution, one of the managers had rubber-stamped promotional drafts without even glancing at them.“During our investigation thus far, we have been unable to find any definite evidence of intentionality in our employees and executives’ planning of the marketing campaign in question,” said Shinsegae Vice President Jeon Sang-jin in a press conference about the Starbucks “Tank Day” controversy at Josun Palace hotel on Tuesday morning.“Our investigation did confirm that some of the employees had made inappropriate remarks that failed to recognize the seriousness of the issue immediately after the controversy broke out. But we concluded that those remarks should not be regarded as evidence of intentionality or conspiracy,” Jeon said.“But one reason for that conclusion is because of the legal and procedural limitations faced by a corporate inquiry, with the employees and executives in question refusing to submit their mobile phones.”Shinsegae also said its investigation had turned up severe shortcomings in its process for reviewing marketing campaigns.“We confirmed that some of the seven people who were supposed to review the marketing campaign routinely signed off on the campaign without even opening email attachments containing the drafts of the promotional materials,” Jeon said.“Given the severity of this matter, we have placed all five marketing employees on probation, dismissed the executive involved and agreed to cooperate fully with any subsequent investigation by the police,” he added.If a police investigation finds that any of its staff had intended to mock the victims of the May 18 Democratization Movement, Shinsegae plans to immediately take disciplinary measures and hold them responsible under both civil and criminal law.Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin made an apology to the nation during the press conference on Tuesday.“As chairman of the Shinsegae Group, I humbly and sincerely apologize and beg forgiveness from the families of victims of the Gwangju Massacre, the family members of Park Jong-cheol, the citizens of Gwangju, and people throughout the country who have been disappointed and deeply hurt by this incident,” Chung said in his apology.Explaining that the delay in announcing the findings of the investigation was a result of a “thorough examination of the facts,” Chung said, “I take very seriously the fact that many people were deeply hurt and outraged by Starbucks Korea’s inappropriate marketing, and I take full responsibility for this incident.”By Yi Ju-been, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
