BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
South Korean retail billionaire Chung Yong-jin issued a second public apology on Tuesday as outrage continued to intensify over a controversial marketing campaign by Starbucks Korea that many citizens viewed as mocking victims of one of the country’s darkest chapters in modern history.
Chung, whose Shinsegae Group holds a 67.5% controlling stake in Starbucks Korea, appeared in a televised statement where he bowed repeatedly and asked for forgiveness from the families of pro-democracy activists killed during the 1980 Gwangju uprising, as well as from the broader South Korean public.
The controversy erupted after Starbucks Korea launched a promotional campaign centered around a large tumbler product marketed under the name “tank.” The campaign designated May 18 as “Tank Day,” a phrase that immediately triggered public anger because May 18 marks the anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement, a historic pro-democracy uprising violently crushed by military forces under South Korea’s former dictatorship.
The military crackdown in the southwestern city of Gwangju involved the deployment of heavily armed troops, armored vehicles and helicopters against civilians protesting authoritarian rule. Hundreds of people were killed or injured during the suppression, though activists and historians have long argued that the true death toll was significantly higher than official government figures.
Public outrage deepened further because of another slogan used during the campaign: “Thwack it on the table!” Critics said the phrase appeared to reference a notorious statement made by police officials in 1987 during an attempted cover-up surrounding the torture death of student activist Park Jong-chol.
At the time, authorities falsely claimed Park died suddenly after investigators had merely “hit the desk with a thwack,” a phrase that later became symbolic of state brutality and government deception during South Korea’s authoritarian era.
The Starbucks campaign quickly sparked nationwide condemnation across political and social circles, with critics accusing the company of exploiting painful historical trauma for commercial marketing purposes.
“I take it very seriously that many people felt deep pain and anger because of Starbucks Korea’s inappropriate marketing campaign,” Chung said during Tuesday’s statement.
He also appealed to the public not to direct anger toward Starbucks employees working in stores, emphasizing that responsibility for the controversy rested with management rather than frontline staff. There were no immediate reports of significant disruptions or violence targeting stores following the backlash.
This marked Chung’s second apology in less than two weeks. In his first statement, issued on May 19, he acknowledged that the campaign had caused “deep pain” to survivors, bereaved families and the wider South Korean public.
The company moved quickly to contain the fallout after the backlash exploded online and in national media coverage. Within hours of the campaign’s launch, Shinsegae canceled the promotion entirely and dismissed the chief executive officer of Starbucks Korea.
Authorities also launched an investigation after complaints were filed by families connected to victims of the Gwangju uprising.
Jeon Sangjin said during a separate briefing that the company’s internal investigation had not yet uncovered definitive evidence proving that employees intentionally sought to mock the democratic movement, an accusation denied by staff involved in the campaign.
However, Jeon acknowledged that some employees refused requests from management to surrender their smartphones during a weeklong internal review process. He said Shinsegae would cooperate fully with police investigators and pledged that any employee found to have deliberately ridiculed victims or protesters would be immediately terminated.
The controversy has since expanded beyond corporate criticism into a broader national debate about historical memory, accountability and respect for South Korea’s democratic legacy.
Calls for consumer boycotts of Starbucks Korea have intensified across social media and civic groups, while senior government officials have publicly condemned the campaign.
South Korean Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung announced that Starbucks products would no longer be used at government-sponsored events, criticizing what he described as the company’s “anti-historical behavior.”
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung also sharply criticized the campaign in a post on X last week, calling it “inhumane and disgraceful behavior by cheap profiteers who deny the values of the South Korean community, democracy and basic human rights.”
The emotional reaction reflects the enduring significance of the Gwangju uprising in South Korean society. The events of May 1980 remain one of the defining moments in the country’s democratic history and continue to carry enormous political and cultural sensitivity decades later.
The uprising began after military leader Chun Doo-hwan seized power following a coup in late 1979. Protests demanding democracy and civil liberties spread rapidly in Gwangju before being violently suppressed by military forces.
Official government records state that approximately 200 people were killed during the crackdown, though activists, witnesses and historians argue the actual number was far greater. Thousands more were arrested, imprisoned or subjected to torture as authorities attempted to crush dissent under the dictatorship.
Public outrage over Chun’s authoritarian rule ultimately fueled massive nationwide protests in 1987, forcing the government to adopt constitutional reforms allowing direct presidential elections. Those demonstrations are widely regarded as a turning point that paved the way for South Korea’s modern democratic system.
The Starbucks controversy has therefore resonated far beyond a failed marketing campaign, touching on unresolved historical wounds and the continuing importance of preserving the memory of South Korea’s struggle for democracy.