Chung Yong-jin apologizes to the public over Starbucks 'Tank Day' controversy... "I bear all responsibility" (full story)

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\r[Financial News] Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, has personally apologized to the public over the marketing controversy surrounding Starbucks Korea's 'Tank Day.'
At the public apology press conference held on the 26th at a hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Chung said, "As the chairman of Shinsegae Group, I bow my head in sincere apology to the families of the May 18 Democratic Uprising victims, to the citizens of Gwangju Metropolitan City, and to the people of this country who have felt deep pain and disappointment." He added, "I bear all responsibility for this matter. It was my mistake."
He went on to say, "I will make no excuses." He added, "I will treat today's apology not as an end but as a beginning, and start over from the ground up so that we can earn back the public's trust through action, not words, and create real change."
Shinsegae Group also announced the results of its internal investigation into the Starbucks Korea marketing controversy. The group said it conducted an intensive one-week probe of Starbucks Korea executives and employees starting on the 19th, immediately after the incident came to light. According to Shinsegae Group, the investigation covered 15 people in total, including the CEO, executives and working-level staff. It involved internal email reviews, forensic analysis of work laptops, verification of internal messenger records and cross interviews.
Shinsegae Group said it has not found clear evidence so far to prove that the employees and executives intentionally planned the campaign, citing limits in the internal probe. Some employees refused to submit their mobile phones, citing privacy concerns. However, the group said that if a National Police Agency investigation confirms any intent to disparage the May 18 Democratic Uprising, it will seek immediate dismissal as well as civil and criminal liability.
Given the seriousness of the matter, Shinsegae Group said it has removed all five employees involved in the campaign from their duties and dismissed former Starbucks Korea CEO Jeonghyeon Son and the executive in charge. It also placed all related personnel on standby leave and said the head of the division will also face strict accountability depending on the investigation results.
The group said, "This case goes beyond a simple mistake by frontline staff and exposes a serious lack of social and historical awareness within Starbucks, as well as major flaws in its risk management system." It added that it will fully review its internal control processes. In particular, it said some approvers in the marketing approval process signed off routinely without even opening the attached files, and that the existing Legal Team review procedure was also skipped.
Shinsegae Group also said it will strengthen its group-wide education program on historical awareness. Kim Soo-wan, vice president of Shinsegae Group, said, "It seems that employees' sense of history is somewhat disconnected from the way society perceives historical awareness." He added, "We are considering a proper historical awareness program that can cover people in their 20s through their 60s."
The possibility of Chung visiting Gwangju was also mentioned. Shinsegae Group said, "At this stage, fact-finding is the priority," but added that "when the time is appropriate, we may make a public statement through an on-site visit to Gwangju."
Meanwhile, the group said it is sharing the progress of the case and the investigation with Starbucks headquarters in the United States, and plans to discuss measures to improve internal controls. As for speculation over a possible Call Option exercise, it explained, "At present, we do not believe the contractual conditions for exercising the Call Option have been met." It also acknowledged that Starbucks sales fell after the controversy, but said, "Healing for those who were harmed comes before sales."
\rStarbucks Korea came under fire after running a promotion called 'Tank Day' on the May 18 Democratic Uprising memorial day on the 18th. Some online communities and political circles criticized the use of the word 'tank,' saying it evoked the military crackdown by martial law forces during the uprising. The controversy deepened further when the promotional copy used the phrase 'Bang on the desk!' which reminded some people of torture scenes from the military dictatorship era. As the backlash grew, Starbucks Korea suspended the event, and Shinsegae Group dismissed former CEO Jeonghyeon Son.
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clean@fnnews.com Lee Jeong-hwa Reporter