Starbucks Korea to close stores early, launch companywide historical, social awareness training after 'Tank Day' controversy

All employees at Starbucks Korea — along with Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin and Emart executives — will participate in historical awareness and social sensitivity training following the “Tank Day” marketing controversy, which drew criticism for allegedly mocking the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.

Specifically, workers at Starbucks Korea’s headquarters and the Emart executives will undergo the training at the Shinsegae Namsan building in Jung District, central Seoul, on Wednesday, Shinsegae Group announced on Monday. Emart, a Shinsegae Group affiliate, owns Starbucks Korea.

Chairman Chung and the CEOs of Emart affiliates will receive their training separately. Chung is scheduled to attend a session ahead of an executive meeting on June 24.

Starbucks Korea’s partners and employees at its branches will receive the training on June 22. All Starbucks branches will close at 3 p.m. that day so that baristas can watch the training videos at their respective store. This marks the first time that Starbucks Korea has closed all stores nationwide before regular operating hours since entering the Korean market in 1999.

The measure is part of follow-up efforts to prevent a recurrence of the recent marketing controversy.

Starbucks Korea ran the Tank Day event on May 18, the anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement. “Tank” is used in far-right online communities as a nickname for Chun Doo Hwan, the former Korean military dictator whose crackdown during the pro-democracy movement left hundreds dead.

The promotional materials also used “Tak! on the desk!” The phrase recalls the infamous police statement issued after student activist Park Jong-cheol’s death by torture in 1987. “Tak” is Korean onomatopoeia used to describe a sharp sound, often from one object hitting another, similar to the English language’s “bang.”

Chung issued a public apology on May 19, during which he described the promotional event as “an inexcusable mistake.”

“It was an act that trivialized the pain and sacrifices of all those who devoted themselves to democracy in this country,” he said. “The responsibility lies entirely with me. We will comprehensively review the group’s historical awareness and content review systems.”

Employees at other companies in Emart’s retail division will complete two weeks of online training beginning on July 1.

“The early store closures and companywide employee training at Starbucks demonstrate our determination to take this marketing controversy seriously and prevent a recurrence,” Shinsegae Group said. “This is also an opportunity to reaffirm the management’s sense of responsibility.”

The historical awareness training will be led by Oh Je-yeon, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of History who specializes in contemporary Korean history. Oh’s lecture will review major events in Korea since the 1950s and their significance.

The social sensitivity training will be conducted by Prof. Koo Jeong-woo, who teaches at Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of Sociology. Koo will cover how companies should consider social issues — including history, labor, gender and human rights — in marketing and management activities.

Starbucks Korea will also overhaul its internal marketing decision-making system so that risk assessments are conducted from a campaign’s initial planning stage through its approval and implementation. The company will also create a “social sensitivity” checklist and consult external experts to assess potentially sensitive issues involving history, commemorative days, politics, disasters, military matters, gender, violence and hate speech before a campaign’s launch.

It will improve its internal approval systems and ensure that all campaigns undergo sufficient review periods. It will also standardize reporting formats so the timing and key messages of campaigns are clearly reviewed during the approval process.

Additionally, Starbucks plans to expand its social contribution by establishing a fund to help improve infrastructure at modern and contemporary historical sites and finance projects linked to national and major historical commemorative days.

“We will use this […] training as an opportunity to establish ourselves as a socially responsible company that grows together with Korea,” Shinsegae Group added.

BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]