Starbucks Korea Shuts 2,000 Stores Early for History Training After 'Tank Day' Backlash
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · Jun 15
Starbucks Korea Shuts 2,000 Stores Early for History Training After 'Tank Day' Backlash
3 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Jun 15
Summary
All Starbucks stores in South Korea will close at 3 p.m. on June 22 so employees can undergo mandatory training in historical awareness and social sensitivity.
The nationwide shutdown follows outrage over a promotion using “Tank Day” and “5/18” to market tumblers, language seen as invoking the May 18, 1980 Gwangju military crackdown.
Shinsegae Group said the closure will be the first simultaneous early shutdown of Starbucks Korea outlets since the chain entered the market in 1999; Chairman Chung Yong-jin and other executives will train separately on Wednesday.
The fallout already cost Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jung-hyun his job, while the company said the campaign was unintentional but should never have happened.
The episode touched a deep national trauma: the Gwangju Uprising helped drive South Korea’s democratization, and estimates of the death toll range from more than 200 officially to over 2,000 by activists and historians.