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The Seoul Jazz Festival has decided not to operate a Starbucks booth after the company became embroiled in a controversy over language that was perceived as belittling the May 18 Democratic Movement.
On May 20, the Seoul Jazz Festival announced on its official Instagram that the Starbucks booth will not operate during the festival, scheduled for May 22–24.
Starbucks had planned to set up an on-site booth and run promotions at the festival, which opens May 22 at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul. The organizers did not provide a detailed explanation for withdrawing the booth, but the decision appears linked to the backlash over Starbucks Korea’s so-called “Tank Day” promotion.
On May 18, Starbucks Korea used the phrases “Tank Day” and “chaeksange tak (책상에 탁)” in a tumbler promotion. Users on online communities criticized those phrases, saying they mocked the May 18 Gwangju Uprising and the 1987 torture and death of student activist Park Jong-chul.
As criticism intensified, Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin issued a public apology, saying, “We deeply wounded the spirits of the May 18 victims, their families, and the public.” Son Jeong-hyun, CEO of Starbucks Korea (SCK Company), and the executives responsible for the promotion were dismissed.
Founded in 2007, the Seoul Jazz Festival marks its 18th edition in 2026 and has become South Korea’s premier music festival, drawing roughly 60,000 attendees at each event and cultivating a loyal audience.
This year’s lineup includes Janelle Monáe; Arturo Sandoval; SEVENTEEN’s DxS special unit featuring Dokyeom × Seungkwan; Jang Beom-jun; Jon Batiste; Epik High; Baek Yerin; NCT’s Taeyong and Haechan; Herbie Hancock; Medeski Martin & Wood; Hyukoh; and Silica Gel.
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