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Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, abruptly dismissed Sohn Jeong-hyun, CEO of Starbucks Korea (SCK Company), after an inappropriate marketing campaign marking the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement memorial day sparked public outrage.
On the 18th, Shinsegae Group officially announced that Chairman Chung had notified Sohn of his dismissal. According to sources, Chung became enraged upon learning of the marketing controversy on the Starbucks Korea app and website and instructed the group to apply the most severe disciplinary measures available to those responsible and involved.
President Lee Jae-myung on the 18th strongly criticized Starbucks Korea’s \”5·18 Tank Day\” promotion, saying it insulted the blood-soaked struggle of Gwangju’s victims and citizens.
The president publicly weighed in after Sohn Jeong-hyun was suddenly dismissed amid growing blame over the promotion. On his X account (formerly Twitter), Lee wrote, \”How dare they run a ‘5·18 Tank Day’ event that insults the victims and citizens of Gwangju on the historic May 18 memorial day for the Gwangju democratization movement?\”
Lee added, \”How many lives were wrongfully lost that day, and how severely were justice and history damaged? What grievance could possibly justify this act? I am outraged by this inhumane, despicable profiteering that denies our shared community, basic human rights, and the values of democracy.\”
Samsung Electronics’ management and the union met at the National Labor Relations Commission for a second post-mediation session three days before a planned strike, but concluded the first day of talks with little progress.
On the 18th, representatives from Samsung Electronics and the Joint Struggle Headquarters of the union convened at the commission in Sejong City at 10 a.m. for the first day of the second post-mediation. The session ended at about 6:20 p.m., roughly 40 minutes earlier than the originally scheduled 7 p.m. finish.
After the meeting, Choi Seung-ho, head of the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group Cross-Company Union, told reporters he would return at 10 a.m. the next day to continue discussions.
Negotiations were split into morning and afternoon sessions. In the morning, both sides summarized their positions and demands; in the afternoon, they engaged in substantive exchanges over key issues.
The union says it will proceed with the strike planned for the 21st if talks collapse. Despite the government’s threat to invoke emergency adjustment powers to halt labor action, the union has not backed down from its strike plan.
A marine on leave who was found passed out near Yongsan Station on the 16th is under military investigation after police discovered a large number of blank cartridges among his belongings. The military says it suspects the soldier diverted rounds from training and is investigating the circumstances.
Seoul police received a report on the 16th that a man was passed out near Yongsan Station in Yongsan-gu. Officers who arrived on the scene identified the intoxicated man as Marine Corps soldier A, who was on leave.
During a search of A’s belongings, police discovered multiple blank cartridges. Considering the seriousness of the find, they transferred A into military police custody for urgent handling.
The second special investigation team led by Kwon Chang-young has moved to detain Lee Eun-woo, the former director of KTV (the national broadcaster), on charges of advocating insurrection by defending the legitimacy of emergency martial law measures immediately after the Dec. 3 decree.
On the 18th, the special prosecution announced it had filed an arrest warrant for Lee on charges of advocating insurrection.
The team alleges that Lee used the public broadcaster’s special news segments and scroll-news authority to repeatedly and intensively air items between Dec. 3 and Dec. 13, 2024, that argued for the legitimacy of emergency martial law and related proclamations tied to insurrection, while selectively blocking or deleting news that criticized or opposed those actions.
The special prosecutors explained their rationale for seeking detention: after reviewing records that an internal rebellion probe had previously declined to prosecute, they concluded Lee abandoned the media’s role of checking and scrutinizing state power and continued to defend and shield insurrectionist forces during the emergency period and afterward. Based on those findings, the team reopened the case under the Comprehensive Special Prosecutor Act.
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