May 18 groups urge Starbucks HQ to investigate 'Tank Day' event, impose sanctions on E-mart

Organizations representing victims and bereaved families of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising have sent a letter of protest to Starbucks' U.S. headquarters, urging a full investigation into Starbucks Korea's "Tank Day" promotional event, which sparked accusations that the campaign mocked the democratic movement.

The May 18 Memorial Foundation and three public-law organizations — the Association of Wounded Persons, the Association of Contributors and the Association of Bereaved Families — said Sunday they had sent an English-language letter to Starbucks' CEO and board of directors demanding a thorough investigation, accountability for those responsible and a formal apology.

In the letter, the groups said Starbucks Korea had "carried out marketing that prominently featured tanks — the instruments of massacre used by a military dictatorship that violently suppressed Gwangju citizens and took innocent lives in May 1980 — on the eve of the anniversary of the May 18 pro-democracy movement." They called the campaign "a serious act of historical contempt and an anti-human rights measure that has inflicted deep wounds on the victims of the pro-democracy movement and their families."

The groups said that while Starbucks promotes diversity, human rights and social responsibility as core values worldwide, the "ahistorical conduct" of E-mart — the Shinsegae Group subsidiary that holds the Korean operating license — "is seriously damaging the global reputation and brand value that Starbucks has built." They added that the matter was "something that headquarters must never overlook."

They demanded that Starbucks headquarters thoroughly investigate how Starbucks Korea and its local operator, E-mart of Shinsegae Group, planned and approved such anti-human rights and irresponsible marketing. They also called on the company to "take the strongest possible sanctions against the Korean operator, which has damaged global brand value and undermined the trust of the partnership."

The groups also warned that Starbucks headquarters must issue a formal apology to the South Korean public and the bereaved families of May 18 victims, and establish thorough guidelines and an oversight framework to prevent such marketing from recurring. If responsible action is not taken immediately, they said, "it would be tantamount to admitting that the global human rights standards Starbucks has proclaimed have collapsed in the Korean market."

The controversy erupted on May 18 — the 46th anniversary of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising — when Starbucks Korea ran a "Tank Day" event and used slogans, including one reminiscent of the torture and death of democracy activist Park Jong-chul, drawing immediate backlash. The boycott spread from online platforms to political circles and government offices, and as the controversy grew, Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin held a press conference to issue a public apology.