An announcement on the Starbucks app gives instructions for how to receive a refund of the balance of one’s Starbucks card on June 1, 2026, the first day of a limited period in which the chain was offering 100% refunds of card balances in the wake of controversy over a promotional event that rekindled images of the 1980 massacre in Gwangju. (Choi Hyeon-su/Hankyoreh)
Starbucks Korea’s “Tank Day” debacle on May 18 has prompted the company to hold training on historical awareness and social sensitivity at its Seoul headquarters and branches nationwide. Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin, whose conglomerate owns Starbucks Korea, and managers of the group’s supermarket chain Emart will also undergo separate training to demonstrate the chain’s commitment to preventing similar incidents down the line. Shinsegae on Monday announced the training slated for Wednesday for its Emart executives and headquarters staff at Shinsegae Namsan, the conglomerate’s in-house training center in Seoul’s Jung District.This will be followed by training for staff at all branches nationwide on June 22. That day, all of the chain’s stores nationwide will close at 3 pm to allow employees to view training videos.Starbucks Korea’s decision to close its branches early is unprecedented since its entry into the domestic market in 1999. “Closing early to allow employees to receive training demonstrates our commitment to taking this marketing incident seriously and ensuring no repeat incidents,” Shinsegae Group explained. Chung is receiving separate education along with the heads of Shinsegae affiliates. Ahead of a meeting of the group’s executive committee on June 24, he will attend a session on historical awareness and social sensitivity with affiliate CEOs. This move is seen as fulfilling the promise the chairman made in his recent public apology to “also receive history education.”Starting July 1, employees at other affiliates of the Emart division will take the same online course over the course of two weeks. The program is initially geared for headquarters staff and on-site managers.Oh Je-yeon, a professor of contemporary Korean history at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, will lead the sessions on history. He will lecture on major events in the country’s modern era since the 1950s and the proper understanding of them. Koo Jeong-woo, a professor of sociology at the same school, will cover social sensitivity, including consideration and mindfulness of social issues like history, labor, gender and human rights while conducting corporate activities.Starbucks Korea is also overhauling its marketing decision-making system to prevent future fiascos. The revamp will ensure that major risk assessment is effectively carried out at every stage of the process, from initial planning through approval and execution.To this end, the company’s development of a “social sensitivity” checklist will involve consultation with external experts and proactively screen for socially sensitive issues from the planning stage, such as history, important dates, politics, disasters, military affairs, gender, violence and hate speech.Additionally, Starbucks Korea will allow ample time for preliminary reviews to ensure sufficient scrutiny, as well as set up a system in which final checks precede the launch of a marketing campaign not only by the department in charge, but also by the heads of relevant sections such as quality assurance and legal.By Seo Hye-mi, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
