Not only Starbucks Coffee Korea, but also Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin, along with Emart Division executives and employees, will receive training on historical awareness and social sensitivity.
Partners working at Starbucks Coffee Korea stores will end business early at 3 p.m. on the 22nd and receive training on historical awareness and social sensitivity by watching a training video that was shown at each store on the 17th. Starbucks Coffee Korea said this is the first time all of its stores have closed early since opening in 1999, and that the move reflects its determination to take the recent marketing incident seriously and prevent it from happening again.
Chairman Chung will receive training on historical awareness and social sensitivity together with company heads before a meeting of top executives scheduled for the 24th. The move fulfills his promise, made in a public apology after the incident, that "I will also receive history education," while reaffirming the commitment of all executives to take responsibility.
Other employees of Shinsegae Emart Division affiliates will take the same training through online e-learning over a two-week period starting July 1.
Meanwhile, the historical awareness training will be led by Je-Yeon Oh, a professor in the Department of History at Sungkyunkwan University. Oh, a historian who has focused on modern Korean history, will review major modern and contemporary historical events since the 1950s and explain how they should be understood correctly. The social sensitivity training will be conducted by Professor Koo Jung-woo of the Department of Sociology at Sungkyunkwan University. The session will explain how companies should consider and take into account social issues such as history, labor, gender and human rights in marketing and other business activities.
The Shinsegae Group said it hopes to use the history education as an opportunity to establish itself as a socially responsible company that grows together with South Korea.
Starbucks Korea also plans to systematize risk prevention by reorganizing various online and offline marketing processes to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
In addition, it plans to create a social contribution fund to preserve historical value and help raise awareness of the value of social sacrifice. The fund will be used to improve infrastructure at modern and contemporary historical sites and to carry out commemorative projects linked to national and major historical anniversaries. Through its existing Hero Program, it will also expand support for people who dedicate themselves to the public good.
It also plans to boost history education for future generations by supporting field trips to historical sites for elementary, middle and high school students, sponsoring university history clubs, and backing projects that promote accurate understanding of history.
Meanwhile, police are analyzing the internal audit results received from Starbucks Korea and are also investigating Starbucks officials, according to reports. Earlier, Starbucks Korea said there were limitations, including some planning staff refusing to submit their mobile phones.
Kim So-hyoung, Sportschosun compact@sportschosun.com
