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Left: President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a Cabinet meeting on May 12, 2026. Right: A promotional image for Starbucks Korea’s “Tank” series of tumblers. (via Starbucks website)

Starbucks Korea is facing intense criticism for making light of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement on its 46th anniversary with ad copy for a promotional event evocative of the bloody 1980 massacre. 

Starbucks Korea began the sale of its “Tank” tumbler series at 10 am on Monday, May 18. To promote the product, the coffee chain launched a promotional campaign on its website with the slogan “Tank Day.” The date “5/18” was placed above and below the “Tank Day” slogan, and the promotion also included the phrase “Thunk on your desk!”

 
Criticism was immediate, quickly spreading across online forums and social media, with many pointing out that the “Tank Day” slogan evoked the tanks used by Chun Doo-hwan’s military regime to brutally quash the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju. 

The “Thunk on your desk” phrase was also criticized for evoking the death of Park Jong-cheol, a student protester who died after being tortured by the police in 1987.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung upbraided the company, saying that he was “outraged at the inhumane behavior of low-class peddlers,” while civic groups and political figures lambasted the coffee chain for belittling a tragic era in Korea’s history for a marketing scheme, calling for an official apology. 

“Mocking the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement victims and the bloodstained struggles of the survivors on the historical anniversary of that movement by launching an event called ‘5/18 Tank Day?’ What could have possibly driven someone to do such a thing when so many innocent lives were lost that day, and the damages it wrought to our sense of justice and history were so grave?” Lee wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Many civic groups and political figures joined in the criticism. 

The Gwangju-Jeonnam Memorial Coalition, an organization for martyrs and victims who lost their lives fighting for Korea’s democracy, condemned the company in a statement issued that day. 

“This is clearly a historical disaster that has reduced our democracy’s bloodstained history to a malicious mockery for commercial marketing. That they chose to launch this campaign on this particular day has only deepened the anguish felt by the bereaved families of victims and all the people of Gwangju,” the statement read. 
 
The Democratic Party’s election headquarters also criticized the campaign in a commentary.

“To the people of Gwangju, tanks represent the excruciating pain of the state violence by the military regime, and the phrase ‘Thunk on your desk’ recalls the cover-up of the torture and death of Park Jong-cheol,” the commentary read. 

Promotional images from Starbucks Korea calling May 18 “Tank Day.”

As controversy snowballed, Chung Yong-jin, the chair of the Shinsegae Group — a conglomerate that owns a majority stake in Starbucks Korea — fired Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jung-hyun and ordered the dismissal of the executive responsible for the campaign. 
 
Some have argued that the promotional event could only have been possible at the express instruction of company leadership, hinting at possible involvement by Chung. The Shinsegae Group chair has faced criticism for posing a liability to the company on numerous occasions for various controversial remarks, including his advocacy for the “eradication of communism.”

The military regime justified its brutality in Gwangju at the time as an operation against a “riot” by communist sympathizers acting on orders from North Korea. 
 
Starbucks completely removed the promotional material for the event from its website that afternoon as controversy spread, and Chung informed Son of his dismissal. 

In a formal apology issued later that day, Son said, “I bow my head in apology to the spirits of those who died during the May 18 Democratization Movement, groups linked to the movement, the people of Gwangju, and the family of the late Park Jong-cheol and everyone who led the effort to bring democracy to South Korea.”

Meanwhile, Chung released a statement to the public in his own name on Tuesday on behalf of the Shinsegae Group, calling the promotion “unjustifiable and wrong.”

“Yesterday, on the 46th anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement, Shinsegae Group affiliate Starbucks Korea carried out an inappropriate and unacceptable marketing campaign that never should have happened,” Chung wrote in his statement. 

“On behalf of the Group, I bow my head in humble apology to the spirits of those lost in the May 18 Democratization Movement, those who lost loved ones in the events of May 18, and to the public for the inexpressible hurt that this has caused,” he went on. 

Chung pledged to review the group’s decision-making system and implement follow-up measures to prevent similar incidents down the line. 

By Yi Ju-been, staff reporter; Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]