Ju Biung-ghi, chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, speaks during a press conference held at Sejong, Tuesday. Yonhap
Korea's antitrust watchdog has no grounds to investigate Starbucks Korea over the coffee chain's controversial marketing campaign allegedly mocking the 1980s democracy movement, though it would be a "serious" issue if done intentionally, its chief said.
Ju Biung-ghi, chairman of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), made the remark during a press conference held in the central city of Sejong on Tuesday in response to questions about the watchdog's potential action against the Korean unit of the global coffee chain.
"(Starbucks Korea) claims to have used the word 'tank' in a neutral way, but if it is revealed that the company had other intentions, it should apologize to the public and customers," Ju said.
"If the phrase used in the marketing campaign was intended to deceive customers, that would be a serious issue," he added.
The FTC chairman, however, said Starbucks Korea has not currently violated local fair trade rules, noting the agency has no grounds to pursue regulatory action against the company.
"Mocking the tragic incident during the country's move toward democracy is an issue of public trust, rather than one under the FTC's jurisdiction," he added.
Starbucks Korea launched a tumbler promotion on May 18 featuring phrases such as "Tank Day" and "Tak on the desk!" but scrapped it within hours.
Critics said "Tank Day" evoked the military crackdown on the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy uprising, while "Tak on the desk!" recalled an infamous police explanation for the 1987 torture death of student activist Park Jong-cheol, in which police claimed he died after a desk was struck with a "tak" sound.
On May 18, 1980, citizens rose up against a military junta led by then Army Gen. Chun Doo-hwan in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Chun sent troops to brutally suppress civilians before ultimately seizing power by force.
Source: Korea Times News
