At about 12:50 p.m. on the 22nd, on the first floor of the Sejong 1st Street building in Eojin-dong, Sejong. Four men walking past a broadcast camera on the side street next to "Starbucks Sejong Government Complex" said this as they passed. An employee ID card hung around the neck of one person in the group.
It's a street where you often see civil servants carrying coffee back to the Sejong Government Complex at lunchtime. But the mood was different that day. Among those passing in front of the Starbucks store, there were signs of people trying to avoid unnecessary attention.
◇Starbucks in front of the Sejong Government Complex sees fewer civil servants
The store sits right in front of Building 1 of the Sejong Government Complex, where the Prime Minister's Office has workspace. Civil servants around the complex often stop by after lunch to buy coffee.
Usually between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m., orders pile up and people often have to wait more than 10 minutes to get their drinks. But that day, the coffee came out right after ordering. There was no line at the register, and there weren't many customers waiting for drinks.
It was quiet inside the store, too. Many bar seats by the window and tables were empty. In a store of about 1,650 square feet with more than 60 seats, roughly 15 customers were seated. It was a different scene from usual, when it was hard to find an empty seat at lunchtime. A customer sitting in the store said, "It's usually crowded and noisy, but today there are fewer people so it actually feels more comfortable."
Sejong 1st Street is a main dining district near the Sejong Government Complex. Right next to it is Sejong March, a large arcade shopping center. After noon, civil servants and nearby office workers who finished lunch pour into the streets. There were plenty of people on the street that day as well, but foot traffic into the Starbucks store was lighter than usual. Some people came up to the storefront and then turned back.
With controversy over Starbucks' May 18-related event spreading and TV cameras set up, some visitors seemed conscious of onlookers.
Other nearby Starbucks locations were similar. Even though it was lunchtime, the "Starbucks Sejong Eojin Reserve" store, one block from the Sejong Government Complex, also had many empty tables. When asked about recent sales trends at stores near the government complex, a Starbucks Korea (SCK) official said, "It's difficult to answer."
◇Boycott movement spreads to government and civil servants
Among civil servants, there were also signs of reluctance to visit Starbucks. A civil servant who requested anonymity said, "I see the May 18 event as a promotional campaign that crossed the line," adding, "I used to go often, but now I'm thinking, 'Do I really need to go?'"
The controversy is spreading to government ministry responses. Minister Yoon Ho-jung of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety wrote on social media the previous day that "we will not provide products from corporations that make light of the history and values of democracy or use them as commercial material." Inside and outside the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), the mood is to take this as effectively a "Starbucks boycott" declaration.
The Ministry of Justice has also begun checking records of Starbucks purchases made with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office budget from January this year to the present. However, the Ministry of Justice said it is "to review how they were used in surveys, contests, and events," adding, "It is not with disciplinary action against purchasers in mind."
The civil servants' union also joined the boycott movement. The Korean Government Employees' Union said it "takes this incident seriously" and proposed joining a Starbucks boycott. By contrast, one citizen said, "The event was a problem, but with the chair apologizing and even the CEO dismissed, it's excessive for government ministries to effectively declare a boycott."