Police Summon Shinsegae Group Audit Chief Over Starbucks 'Tank Day' Controversy

[Financial News] Police investigating the controversy over Starbucks' 'Tank Day' promotion are questioning the audit chief of Shinsegae Group.
According to police on the 17th, the Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency summoned Yang Jong-wan, head of Shinsegae Group's audit team and an executive vice president, on the morning of the day for questioning as a witness.
Yang explained the results of the group's internal investigation into the Starbucks Tank Day promotion on the 26th of last month. At the time, Shinsegae Group said it had found no evidence to prove intent and that the investigation was limited because employees in charge of planning refused to submit their mobile phones.
For about a month, police have continued reviewing the legal issues and questioning those involved without conducting a search and seizure. Police are reportedly examining whether the phrase 'tap on the desk,' used in the Starbucks promotion, could constitute defamation of the family of martyr Park Jong-chul. Meanwhile, Starbucks came under fire after running the Tank Day promotion on the 18th of last month, using expressions that evoked the deployment of military tanks during martial law and the 1987 death by torture of Park Jong-chul.
A group of May 18 Democratization Movement veterans and the civic group People's Livelihood Measures Committee for the Common People filed complaints and criminal accusations against Chairman Chung Yong-jin and others on charges including violations of the Special Act on the May 18 Democratization Movement, insult, and defamation.

425_sama@fnnews.com Choi Seung-han Reporter