Starbucks Korea will close all of its more than 2,000 stores at 3pm on 22 June for staff training on historical awareness and social sensitivity after a marketing campaign linked to South Korea’s 1980 Gwangju Uprising triggered public backlash, protests and a sharp fall in sales.

The training programme was announced on Monday by Shinsegae Group, whose affiliate E-Mart owns Starbucks Korea, following controversy over a “Tank Day” promotion launched on 18 May. The campaign promoted a line of tumblers branded as “tank” products on the anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, when military forces used troops and tanks to suppress pro-democracy demonstrations.

Shinsegae said headquarters staff and E-Mart executives will attend training on 17 June, while chairman Chung Yong-jin and chief executives of group affiliates will take part in a separate session on 24 June. The company said the nationwide early closure would be the first since Starbucks Korea opened in 1999.

According to Reuters, the programme will include lectures by professors from Sungkyunkwan University covering major events in South Korea’s modern history and examining how businesses should consider issues such as history, labour, gender and human rights when developing marketing campaigns. Starbucks Korea will also introduce a social-sensitivity checklist covering topics including politics, disasters, military issues and hate expressions.

The controversy erupted after consumers linked the promotion’s “Tank Day” branding to the anniversary of the Gwangju crackdown and criticised a slogan encouraging customers to “slam it on the desk”, which many associated with the 1987 torture death of student activist Park Jong-chul. The campaign was cancelled within hours and Starbucks Korea subsequently dismissed chief executive Son Jeong-hyun.

Shinsegae previously acknowledged a “very significant” decline in sales following the incident. The Financial Times reported that digital Starbucks voucher usage had fallen, while The Guardian cited market data showing card payment volumes at Starbucks stores dropped 26 per cent in the week after the controversy.

Chung, who has issued multiple public apologies, said in a televised statement: “I take it very seriously the fact that many people felt deep pain and anger because of Starbucks Korea’s inappropriate marketing campaign.”

A Shinsegae statement cited by the Financial Times said: “This shows how seriously we are taking the marketing incident and our determination to prevent any recurrence.”

Starbucks Korea is South Korea’s largest coffee chain by customer payments and its third-largest Starbucks market globally after the United States and China.

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