Translation resultShinsegae moves to block risks early as Starbucks fallout spreadsA political clash and a growing consumer boycott over Starbucks Korea\u2019s \u201cTank Day\u201d marketing have raised concerns that the controversy could spread across the Shinsegae Group. Jung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, will appear on May 26 to deliver a public apology and is expected to unveil the group\u2019s own internal investigation \u2014 a step observers see as an effort to contain the \u201cStarbucks risk\u201d before it ripples through the conglomerate.According to audit reports filed May 25 by Emart and SCK Company (Starbucks Korea), Starbucks Korea purchased 213.5 billion KRW (about USD 160.1 million) in raw materials and merchandise from Shinsegae Food last year. Those supplies included bakery items and other food and beverage products sold at Starbucks stores. Roughly 17% of Shinsegae Food\u2019s consolidated revenue of about 1.23 trillion KRW (about USD 922.5 million) last year came from transactions with Starbucks Korea. Among Shinsegae Food\u2019s related-party sales of about 547 billion KRW (about USD 410.3 million), nearly 40% came from Starbucks \u2014 underscoring the unit\u2019s heavy reliance on the coffee chain.Shinsegae Group\u2019s IT arm, Shinsegae I&C, reported about 25.7 billion KRW (about USD 19.3 million) in transactions with Starbucks Korea last year. Those contracts covered the development and operation of IT infrastructure for Starbucks\u2019 mobile ordering service, \u201cSiren Order,\u201d and customer response systems. Other purchases involving Starbucks Korea amounted to roughly 41.5 billion KRW (about USD 31.1 million). Shinsegae I&C posted consolidated sales of about 687.2 billion KRW (about USD 515.4 million) last year. Starbucks Korea also recorded transactions of about 4.6 billion KRW (about USD 3.5 million) with SSG.com and about 4.4 billion KRW (about USD 3.3 million) with Shinsegae Property.Most notably, Starbucks has been a key cash cow for Emart, the largest shareholder in Shinsegae Group. Starbucks Korea paid total dividends of 106.2 billion KRW (about USD 79.7 million) last year. Applying Emart\u2019s 67.5% stake, Emart received roughly 71.6 billion KRW (about USD 53.7 million) in dividends. That means Starbucks accounted for about 54% of Emart\u2019s separate-basis dividend income of roughly 133.2 billion KRW (about USD 99.9 million) from affiliates last year. Emart\u2019s other purchases from Starbucks Korea amounted to about 11.3 billion KRW (about USD 8.5 million).Shinsegae\u2019s planned Grand Starfield Gwangju development, a project with an estimated investment of around 3 trillion KRW (about USD 2.25 billion), could also be jeopardized. Groups associated with the May 18 Gwangju movement are demanding that Shinsegae withdraw all its project plans in the city.Industry observers warn that if Starbucks Korea\u2019s growth stalls or reverses, other group affiliates could suffer a domino effect. Internal transactions between affiliates would likely shrink, and the group\u2019s major funding source \u2014 dividend income \u2014 could decline. Emart itself warned in a recent filing that changes in public opinion could negatively affect consumer perception, brand reputation, stakeholder relationships, operating results, and future business operations.The political escalation adds to worries that the issue could be prolonged. Lee Jae-myung has directed sharp criticism at Starbucks, and the Democratic Party has called for a boycott. On May 25, Jang Dong-hyuk, standing campaign committee member of the People Power Party, accused political actors of trying to redirect public anger over Lee Jae-myung\u2019s trial toward Starbucks, calling it a \u201cpeople\u2019s trial for local elections.\u201dAgainst that backdrop, Jung will make his first public appearance since the controversy to issue a public apology on May 26 at the Chosun Palace Hotel in Gangnam, Seoul. He will also release the results of Shinsegae Group\u2019s internal fact-finding investigation at the event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tensions rise as Starbucks Korea faces boycott, impacting Shinsegae Group’s operations and prompting a public apology from its chairman.<\/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-2023-0094\/thumb-ac31ef1e-93be-44a2-90e4-b3711cb23363.jpg","footnotes":""},"categories":[278093],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n