'Starbucks Tank Day Controversy' Case Against Chairman Jeong Yongjin Under Investigation by Gangnam Police

Just One Day After the Civil Livelihood Countermeasures Committee Filed Its Complaint

The Seoul Gangnam Police Station has launched an investigation regarding the controversy over Starbucks Korea's "5·18 Tank Day" promotion.

View of Gangnam Police Station in Seoul. Photo by JaeHyun Park

On the 21st, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that it had assigned the case, which involves accusations of insult and defamation against Jeong Yongjin, Chairman of Shinsegae Group, and Son Jeonghyeon, former CEO of Starbucks Korea, to the Investigation Division 2 at the Seoul Gangnam Police Station.

This comes just one day after the Civil Livelihood Countermeasures Committee, a civic group, filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against Chairman Jeong and former CEO Son.

On the 18th, Starbucks Korea sold a "Tank Tumbler Set" through its application, using phrases such as "5·18 Tank Day" and "Thump on the Desk!" in the event description.

The Civil Livelihood Countermeasures Committee asserted that these expressions evoke memories of the deployment of armored vehicles by martial law troops during the 5·18 Democratization Movement, as well as the police statement during the 1987 Park Jongcheol torture case, "He died after I thumped on the desk." The group claimed that this constitutes insult and defamation against the 5·18 Democratization Movement, its bereaved families, and the citizens of Gwangju.

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