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Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung has urged Starbucks Korea to temporarily close all its stores nationwide and provide historical-sensitivity training to every employee in response to the controversy over the May 18 “Tank Day.”
On the 29th, Mayor Kang wrote on Facebook: “In 2018, U.S. Starbucks — immediately after a racial-discrimination scandal — closed roughly 8,000 stores for an afternoon and provided employee training. Chairman Chung Yong-jin must make a decisive move as well.”
He added that U.S. Starbucks “accepted significant lost sales to carry out anti-discrimination training and set an ethical standard for the company,” and warned that “in 2026, Starbucks Korea faces a test of historical sensitivity and social responsibility.” He urged Chung not to fear lost sales, saying, “Losing the public’s trust is the real crisis.”
Mayor Kang called on the company to “immediately prepare a proper history curriculum and implement a firm action plan that closes stores nationwide for training.”
Earlier, Starbucks Korea released a tumbler named “Tank” on the 18th, the anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising, and promoted it as “Tank Day.” In promotional material, the company used the phrase “Smack on the desk!” — a line critics say evokes the torture and death of activist Park Jong-chul — which drew sharp criticism. Eight days after the controversy began, on the 26th, Chairman Chung issued a public apology, but consumer backlash has persisted.
Boycott calls against Starbucks have spread, and sales have fallen. According to AI data platform IGAWorks’ Mobile Index, Starbucks’ estimated credit- and debit-card payments for the week of the 18th–24th totaled 23.69 billion KRW (approximately $17.8 million). That represents a decline of roughly 8.47 billion KRW (approximately $6.4 million), or 26.3%, from the prior week (May 11–17), when estimated payments were 32.16 billion KRW (approximately $24.1 million). Compared with the week of May 4–10, when payments were 31.48 billion KRW (approximately $23.6 million), the figure has fallen by about 25%.
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