Interior minister expresses 'deep regret' over Starbucks Korea's 'Tank Day' campaign, vows boycott

Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung on Thursday said he will rule out using the Korean operator of Starbucks in future government events, after the coffee chain came under fire for an inappropriate marketing campaign associated with a bloody military crackdown on a pro-democracy movement in 1980. Yun made the remarks in a post uploaded on X, formerly Twitter, saying he expresses "deep regret" over the recent "ahistorical" action by Starbucks Korea on the anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju uprising earlier this week. Operated by Shinsegae affiliate E-Mart, Starbucks Korea faced public backlash after it launched an online "Tank Day" promotion, offering a discount event for "Tank" tumbler sets, along with a controversial phrase, "Put it on the table with a sound of 'Tak!'" The campaign drew criticism as the word "tank" evoked memories of the military deploying tanks to clamp down on pro-democracy protesters, while "tak" reminded people of student activist Park Jong-chol, who died in 1987 after being tortured. "Democracy was built on top of the sacrifice and devotion of many citizens," Yun wrote. "Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times