Ministry of Patriots and Veterans to continue Starbucks scholarship program for independence activists' descendants

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans has decided to proceed as planned with its scholarship program for descendants of independence activists, run in partnership with Starbucks Korea, after reviewing whether to suspend it following the company's "Tank Day" marketing controversy.

According to the ministry Sunday, it and Starbucks Korea plan to select 50 descendants of independence activists in the second half of this year and provide a total of 100 million won ($71,800) in scholarships.

"The recent Starbucks controversy related to the May 18 pro-democracy uprising caused some delay in the program, but we decided to proceed with the second-half activities in consideration of the scholarship benefits that go to descendants of independence activists," a ministry official told Yonhap.

The ministry and Starbucks Korea signed an MOU in 2021 to support descendants of independence activists and have since provided 100 million won in annual scholarships to 50 descendants facing financial hardship each year.

Starbucks has supported descendants of independence activists since 2015. According to industry sources, the company has sponsored university students among those descendants every year, providing a cumulative total of 1 billion won to 483 descendants over 11 years.

The partnership hit a snag in May when Starbucks Korea drew fierce criticism over a tumbler promotion held on May 18 — the 46th anniversary of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising — that used phrases including "Tank Day" and "a thud on the desk." The expressions were widely seen as evoking the uprising and the torture and death of democracy activist Park Jong-chul. As the backlash grew, Starbucks immediately halted the event and issued a formal apology under the name of its chief executive.

The fallout extended to management. Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin dismissed then-Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jeong-hyeon and the executive in charge of the campaign, then issued a personal public apology, calling it "an inexcusable mistake" and pledging group-wide measures to prevent a recurrence.

The ministry subsequently reviewed whether to continue the scholarship program with Starbucks. It ultimately decided to maintain the partnership, weighing the fact that suspending the program would cut off scholarship support for descendants of independence activists who had no direct connection to the controversy.