3 min readUpdated: May 19, 2026 11:33 AM IST
The Starbucks Korea head has been sacked after a marketing campaign triggered public outrage recently.
The retail conglomerate, Shinsegae Group, that manages the US coffee chain in South Korea, said that Sohn Jeong-hyun, the head of Starbucks Korea, was fired for running “inappropriate marketing” with the launch of ‘Tank Day’ campaign.
What was the campaign?
The campaign was to promote what it called its “Tank” line of tumblers with a tagline that says “put it on the table with a sound of ‘Tak!‘”
What happened in 1980, and what is the recent outrage about?
The campaign sparked calls of boycotting Starbucks and political backlash for reviving memories of a harsh military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1980. Many For Many of them, the “tank” motif stood for vehicles deployed by the government in May 1980 to crush the protesters.
Monday marked Democratisation Movement Day, commemorating the student-led Gwangju Uprising of May 1980, and the ’Tank Day’ campaign on that day drew considerable flak in South Korea. Hundreds of people were estimated to have been killed or gone missing when the military dictator Chun Doo-hwan deployed troops and tanks to crack down on the protests.
Several details remain unconfirmed, such as who gave the firing order. In 1988, Chun finally stepped down amid growing pressure and calls for democracy. Questions were also raised on the use of the phrase “tak” that echoed the explanations by South Korean police in 1987 for the death of a student protester after torture. According to media reports, the police ahd said the student died after investigators hit a desk, making a “tak” sound.
What the South Korean President said
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, on Monday, said he was “enraged” by the campaign and demanded the firm’s apology to the families of people killed in the uprising. Terminf it the act of a “degenerate peddler”, Lee said the campaign “tarnished the bloody protests of Gwangju citizens and the victims of the protests”.
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Starbucks’ apology
Starbucks Korea posted an apology statement on its website.
Meanwhile, Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin said: “I deeply bow in apology as the representative of the group,” Chung said, adding that the marketing “deeply hurt the public, the bereaved families, and the victims of the May 18 demonstration.”
In an email to Reuters, a Starbucks Global spokesperson wrote: “We sincerely apologize to the people of Gwangju, to those impacted by this tragedy, and to our customers and communities. Leadership accountability actions have been taken, and a thorough investigation is underway,” the spokesperson said. “We are implementing stronger internal controls, review standards, and company-wide training to ensure this does not happen again.”
How Starbucks shares traded today
The shares of Shinsegae’s E-Mart, with 67.5% stake in Starbucks Korea, were down 5.5% at 1.15 pm (0415 GMT) in Seoul trading.
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