00:00Starbucks Korea fired its CEO last week over a coffee tumblr promotion.
00:05But to understand why, you need a little history lesson.
00:08So here's what's happening.
00:09May 18th, 1980.
00:10South Korea's military dictatorship sent tanks to Gwangju to crush a pro-democracy uprising,
00:16killing hundreds of students and civilians.
00:19The 18th of May became a national day of remembrance in South Korea.
00:23Seven years later, student activist Park Jung-chul died under torture.
00:27The regime's cover story? He'd been startled when an officer slammed his fist on the desk.
00:32The Korean word for that sound, talk, became synonymous with both the incident and the regime's lies.
00:38So fast forward to May 18th, 2026.
00:41Starbucks Korea launches a promotion for a large coffee tumblr called The Tank.
00:46The promotion? Tank Day.
00:48The campaign slogan? Thwack it on the table. Or in Korean, talk.
00:52People took quick notice of two separate references to two historical atrocities
00:57in a single ad campaign on the anniversary of one of them.
01:01The CEO of Starbucks Korea was fired, and Shin Sege Group chairman Chung Young Jin,
01:05whose subsidiary holds a 67.5% stake in Starbucks Korea, has apologized twice on camera.
01:12Shin Sege's vice chairman acknowledged that the legal review process was bypassed because, in his words,
01:17immediacy in marketing was prioritized.
01:20Protesters smashed cups outside of Guangzhou's Starbucks,
01:23a police investigation filed by families of the 1980 victims is now reopened,
01:28and three of five removed Starbucks marketing employees have refused to hand over their phones.
01:33Critics, including the governing Democratic Party and victims' families,
01:36say the apologies aren't sufficient and are demanding a transparent investigation into whether this was intentional.
01:42Supporters, including the conservative People Power Party, are calling the backlash consumer censorship and selective outrage,
01:49arguing that the date overlap was nothing more than a coincidence.
01:52So what do you think? Was this just unfortunate planning or a deliberate political statement?
01:57Drop your take in the comments and follow us here for more.
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