Starbucks Korea will close all stores nationwide early at 3 p.m. on the 22nd. It is a follow-up measure to the controversy over marketing phrases that flared last month, to conduct history awareness and social sensitivity training for all employees.
According to the industry on the 22nd, this is the first time since opening the first domestic store in 1999 in Edae that all stores operated by Starbucks Korea nationwide will simultaneously close early. There are about 2,160 stores nationwide. The move is seen as going beyond simple employee training to signal a plan to overhaul ethical standards and marketing verification systems across brand operations.
Earlier, starting on the 16th, each store posted notices about shortened business hours and informed customers. The notice said, "We apologize for the inconvenience caused by shortened business hours," and "We will work to provide a better customer experience."
After closing, Starbucks partners at stores nationwide will watch pre-produced training videos on monitors provided by headquarters for each store. Employees who cannot participate that day due to vacations and other reasons must later complete the training by watching the videos online.
The training will run for about three hours. The video is a recording of lectures given on the 17th to Starbucks Korea headquarters employees and executives of E-MART institutional sector affiliates.
The lectures were given by Oh Jeyeon, professor in the Department of History at Sungkyunkwan University, and Koo Jeong-woo, professor in the Department of Sociology at Sungkyunkwan University. Oh lectured on "the correct historical awareness that corporations should have," and Koo lectured on "social sensitivity and ethical standards."
A Starbucks Korea official said the program will be held not only as training on history awareness and social sensitivity but also as a "brand values workshop" to discuss Starbucks' values and mission, adding, "Through this training, we will work to prevent a recurrence of the Tank Day incident."
Follow-up measures at the Shinsegae Group, Starbucks Korea's parent company, will also continue. Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, is expected to watch the same training video with affiliate CEOs ahead of the presidents' meeting scheduled for the 24th.
Earlier, Starbucks Korea became embroiled in controversy for using the phrases "Tank Day" and "Clack on the desk!" during a tumbler promotion event last month. Critics said the phrases evoked the May 18, 1980, Gwangju pro-democracy movement and the 1987 torture and death of activist Park Jong-cheol.
After the controversy, Starbucks Korea acknowledged that the phrases were inappropriate and apologized. It then said it would work to prevent a recurrence through follow-up measures such as training all employees and revamping marketing verification systems.