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Starbucks ‘Siren’ Mug Controversy: A Political Clash in South Korea

Daniel Kim Views  

Translation result장동혁 [Herald Economy=Shin Dae-won] Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, fired back on Facebook on the 24th, calling President Lee Jae-myung’s criticism of Starbucks Korea’s release of a Sewol Ferry 10th-anniversary “Siren mug” inaccurate and mounting a sharp rebuttal.

On Facebook, Jang said Lee had accused Starbucks of staging a “siren event” on April 16 two years earlier and had denounced it as “donning a mask,” “beastlike,” and “an act of sacrilege.” Jang insisted, however, that “there was no event to begin with.”

He described the post as a routine product announcement for a new “Siren Classic,” adding that “’Siren’ is Starbucks’ emblem and a generic name applied to all products bearing the Starbucks logo.”

“If you take that line of argument, you shouldn’t even offer ‘Siren Order’ on April 16. You’d have to cover up Starbucks signs that display the siren,” he said, warning, “Pretty soon people will mark tragedy dates on their calendars and avoid anything that even remotely overlaps.”

Jang intensified his criticism, omitting the president’s title and saying, “Lee Jae-myung has lost his reason. He fires off comments without checking the facts.”

He also pointed to a photo of the president smiling while moving his office to the Blue House on Dec. 29 last year—the first anniversary of the Muan Airport tragedy—and retorted, “You should have gone to Muan. If you criticize him for moving to the Blue House, what would you say then?”

Jang claimed that, as opposition to the prosecution’s decision to drop charges spread and public anger flared, Lee appeared unsettled and had been trying to rally his so-called “gae-ddal” supporters to turn the situation around.

“Wake up. Our people won’t be fooled anymore,” he said, adding, “We’ve been deceived enough—over mad cow disease, Fukushima, and THAAD.”

Jang also highlighted comments on the Starbucks boycott thread, quoting lines such as, “Boycott Ssangbangwool underwear because they illegally sent money to North Korea,” and, “People who wear Ssangbangwool underwear are accomplices to illegal remittances,” and urged, “Enough already.”

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