{"id":260747,"date":"2026-05-19T00:38:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/uncategorized\/2026\/05\/19\/starbucks-koreas-tank-day-controversy-ceo-fired-amid-5%c2%b718-memorial-backlash\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T00:38:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:38:50","slug":"starbucks-koreas-tank-day-controversy-ceo-fired-amid-5%c2%b718-memorial-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/social\/2026\/05\/19\/starbucks-koreas-tank-day-controversy-ceo-fired-amid-5%c2%b718-memorial-backlash\/","title":{"rendered":"Starbucks Korea’s ‘Tank Day’ Controversy: CEO Fired Amid 5\u00b718 Memorial Backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u25b2\"
\n \u25b2 \u25b2 Jung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group. (Photo = Shinsegae Group)
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[mdtoday = Reporter Yang Jeong-ui] Shinsegae Group has dismissed CEO Son Jeong-hyun after Starbucks Korea held a ‘Tank Day’ event on the 5\u00b718 anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement. As the controversy grew, Chairman Jung Yong-jin reportedly ordered decisive action.<\/p>\n

The company said it finalized the decision today. It also dismissed the executive responsible for planning and organizing the event and said it will initiate disciplinary proceedings against other employees involved.<\/p>\n

The company said Chairman Jung personally ordered severe penalties for those deemed responsible.<\/p>\n

He said he viewed the incident as particularly serious because it occurred on the anniversary honoring the Gwangju Democratization Movement, and he ordered the strongest measures the group can take to prevent a recurrence.<\/p>\n

Shinsegae Group said Jung ordered a strict, thorough internal investigation as soon as he was briefed, and that the company removed the CEO because it regarded the matter as extremely serious.<\/p>\n

The group said it will overhaul its workflows to prevent similar incidents and work to strengthen historical awareness across the organization.<\/p>\n

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    Shinsegae Group terminated CEO Son Jung-hyun over Starbucks Korea’s controversial ‘Tank Day’ event on Gwangju Democracy Movement Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/cdn-union.tenbizt.com\/contents\/crawler-dev\/thumbnail\/2026\/05\/CP-2023-0193\/thumb-695c94d9-5fc9-4253-ad86-e8cb86eed497.jpg","footnotes":""},"categories":[278100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social"],"yoast_head":"\nStarbucks Korea's 'Tank Day' Controversy: CEO Fired Amid 5\u00b718 Memorial Backlash<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Shinsegae Group terminated CEO Son Jung-hyun over Starbucks Korea's controversial 'Tank Day' event on Gwangju Democracy Movement Day.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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