South Korean police have raided the Seoul headquarters of Starbucks’ local business as they investigate a marketing campaign that drew fierce criticism for allegedly disparaging the country’s pro-democracy movements of the 1980s.
Police said Wednesday that investigators carried out a search Tuesday at Starbucks Korea’s head office in southern Seoul.
Officials did not provide additional details about the operation, though South Korean news outlets reported that investigators were also dispatched to the homes of Starbucks executives.
The backlash erupted after the coffee chain sought to promote a line of stainless-steel tumblers branded “SS Tank” and designated May 18 as “Tank Day.”
May 18 is a deeply significant date in South Korea, marking the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy uprising, which was violently crushed by the country’s military-backed government at the time.
The campaign also featured the slogan “Thwack it on the table!” — wording that many South Koreans interpreted as an allusion to an infamous 1987 police claim used to conceal the torture death of student activist Park Jong-chol.
Authorities had falsely asserted that Park died after investigators “hit the desk with a thwack.”
Amid the public outcry, Shinsegae Group, which holds a 67.5% stake in Starbucks Korea, scrapped the campaign within hours.
It also fired the chief executive of Starbucks Korea.
Shinsegae Chairman Chung Yong-jin later issued a televised apology.
Starbucks Korea closed all of its stores nationwide early on June 22 for mandatory history and social sensitivity training.
The police investigation was launched following complaints from relatives of the victims of the Gwangju crackdown, which official records say left about 200 people dead.
South Korea achieved a genuine democracy in 1987 when then authoritarian President Chun Doo-hwan, who led the Gwangju crackdown, was forced to accept a constitutional revision introducing direct presidential elections in the face of massive pro-democracy demonstrations.
