Starbucks Korea to Close All Stores Next Wednesday for Three-Hour Staff Training

Starbucks Korea will close every store across the country at 15:00 local time next Wednesday for three hours of staff training and will not reopen until the following day. The nationwide early closure is the first since the chain opened in South Korea in 1999. On Monday, all employees will watch videos on historical awareness and social sensitivity.

Chairman Chung Yong-jin of Shinsegae Group, which operates Starbucks Korea under a licensing agreement, will attend the training. Shinsegae Group fired the Starbucks Korea chief executive on the day of the scandal. The company said the action followed public outrage over a "Tank Day" promotion for the Tank Series drink tumblers.

" in Korean. Marketers selected the phrase after an AI tool generated suggestions, Shinsegae Group stated. The promotion launched on the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, in which at least 165 civilians were killed by troops deployed under the military regime of Chun Doo-hwan.

Further investigations later confirmed that soldiers committed rape and sexual assault during the crackdown. " Protests were held outside Starbucks shops, and the chain reportedly suffered a significant drop in sales following calls to boycott. The promotional material also referenced language used in a 1987 police statement about the death of a student activist in custody.

Chun Doo-hwan was convicted of treason and corruption in 1996, released after a presidential pardon, and died in 2021 aged 90. In 2018 the government apologised for the rape of women by troops in Gwangju.