"Starbucks Will Close at 3 p.m. Today" — First Early Shutdown in 27 Years Since Entering Korea

[Financial News] At 3 p.m. on the 22nd, all Starbucks stores nationwide will close early.

Starbucks Korea said it deeply recognizes its responsibility for last month’s marketing controversy and will conduct companywide training to improve employees’ historical awareness and social sensitivity. This is the first time Starbucks Korea has closed early since opening its first domestic store, the Ewha Womans University Branch, in 1999.
In connection with the move, Starbucks Korea’s more than 2,160 stores nationwide have posted notices since the 16th, saying, "We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the shortened business hours. We will do our best to provide a better customer experience."
After business ends early, Starbucks partners across the country will watch the prepared training videos on monitors provided by headquarters at each store. Employees on leave will later have to complete the training by watching the videos online.
The videos are recordings of lectures delivered on the 17th by Je-Yeon Oh, a history professor in the Department of History, Sungkyunkwan University, and Gu Jeong-woo, a sociology professor in the Department of Sociology, Sungkyunkwan University, to Starbucks Korea headquarters staff and executives from E-Mart affiliates. The lectures were titled "The Proper Historical Awareness Companies Should Have" and "Social Sensitivity and Ethical Standards."
A Starbucks Korea official explained, "The event will be held not only as training on historical awareness and social sensitivity, but also as a 'brand value workshop' to discuss the values and mission Starbucks pursues." The official added, "Through this roughly three-hour event, we will work to prevent a repeat of the Tank Day incident."
Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin, the parent company of Starbucks Korea, is also expected to watch the same training videos with affiliate company heads ahead of a meeting of company presidents scheduled for the 24th.

Starbucks Korea will completely revamp its marketing decision-making process. It plans to make the use of a social sensitivity checklist mandatory at every stage of marketing planning and establish a multi-layered verification system to rebuild its risk-prevention framework from the ground up.
Earlier, Starbucks Korea came under fire last month for using the phrases 'Tank Day' and 'Bang on the desk!' during a tumbler promotion event, drawing accusations that it mocked the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980 and the death by torture of pro-democracy activist Park Jong-chul in 1987.
bng@fnnews.com Kim Hee-sun Reporter