SEOUL: South Korean police have questioned an executive of Starbucks operator Shinsegae in their investigation of a flopped promotional campaign that evoked a deadly 1980 crackdown, the group told AFP on Thursday (June 18).
Starbucks Korea, which operates more than 2,000 stores nationwide under a licensing agreement with Shinsegae Group, sparked public outrage last month with a "Tank Day" promotion.
The day of the reusable cup promotion -- May 18 -- coincided with the 46th anniversary of the Gwangju uprising in which 165 civilians were killed, according to the official toll, though many believe the real figure to be much higher.
Shinsegae Group fired its Korea chief executive the day the scandal broke, and the group's chairman Chung Yong-jin later bowed in apology over the incident.
This did not stop a civic group from filing a complaint against Chung and other executives claiming they violated a 2016 law that, among other provisions, prohibits the dissemination of false information about the 1980 pro-democracy crackdown.
The complaint also claims defamation and insult.
"The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency questioned Yang Jong-hwan, head of Shinsegae Group's audit team, as a witness yesterday," a company spokesman told AFP on Thursday, declining to give further details.
Shinsegae said it hoped the facts would be "clarified swiftly and transparently" and pledged cooperation with investigators.
Police did not respond to multiple requests for comment from AFP.
Starbucks stores across South Korea will next Monday shutter for half a day for staff to attend a history lesson about the crackdown.
The chairman of Shinsegae and other senior executives will sit for a similar lesson two days later.
South Korea is Starbucks' third largest market after the United States and China.
Shinsegae had previously identified a series of negligent acts leading up to the promotion, including officials signing off without checking the design file.
The controversy, which sparked protests in Seoul and Gwangju, sparked a "sharp decline in sales" in the early days of the scandal, according to the operator.
President Lee Jae Myung has expressed outrage "by this inhumane and disgraceful conduct". - AFP
