Chung Yong-jin, chairman of the Shinsegae Group, apologizes over the Starbucks Korea ″Tank Day″ controversy at the Josun Palace hotel in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on May 26, 2026. [YONHAP]
What began as a tone-deaf tumbler promotion has, in the space of two weeks, become one of the most politically charged corporate controversies in recent Korean memory, splitting consumers along partisan lines and drawing in the president and rival parties ahead of the June 3 local elections.
Much of the reason the affair escalated so far lies not in the promotion itself but in the public record of the man at the top of the company. Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, the conglomerate behind Starbucks Korea, is unusual among Korean chaebol leaders for having spent years cultivating an openly conservative political persona rather than a quiet neutrality.
Chung was also among the first Korean business figures to meet Donald Trump after the 2024 U.S. election, citing an evangelical Christian connection with Trump's eldest son. His Instagram followers have included former president Yoon Suk Yeol and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.
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