Politicians hijack Starbucks furor with fight over hate speech

The furor over a recent Starbucks marketing campaign has become a battlefield in the country’s political divide, with a poll released Monday suggesting it is now shaping shifts in support for the rival parties mere days before South Korea holds its local elections.

The backlash over promotions by the coffee chain that were accused of trivializing the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising has widened into a fight over how far the state should go to rein in freedom of expression — including whether far-right online communities such as Ilbe should face penalties or even closure for hateful expressions.

President Lee Jae Myung has taken the lead in that debate, framing the Starbucks controversy as part of a broader culture of ridicule targeting victims of national tragedies.

On Saturday, Lee again lashed out at Starbucks Korea over its release of a new version of its Siren mugs on April 16, 2024 — the 10th anniversary of the Sewol ferry disaster — denouncing it as “beastly conduct” and “an immoral act by vicious profiteers.”

Lee shared a post by ruling Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Rep. Chung Chin-ook, who claimed that Starbucks had deliberately featured the siren — a creature from Greek mythology whose songs lure sailors to shipwrecks — in connection with the anniversary of the Sewol disaster.

Starbucks Korea rejected the criticism, pointing out that the siren logo has been part of the Starbucks brand identity for decades and had no connection to the tragedy.

In response, conservatives sought to turn the backlash into a rallying cry against the Starbucks boycott campaign spearheaded by the ruling bloc.

Main opposition People Power Party Chair Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok on Monday urged supporters to bring Starbucks coffee to polling stations as a show of defiance, accusing Lee of subjecting Starbucks to a “people’s tribunal for the sake of (winning) local elections.”

“This Friday, let the people clearly show the will of free citizens by saying, ‘I choose my own coffee,’” Jang said ahead of early voting scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

In response, Democratic Party spokesperson Rep. Kim Hyun-jung denounced Jang for “ridiculing the memory of state violence.”

“How is politics that caricatures May 18, mocks public anger and packages an insult to history as freedom any different from Ilbe-style mockery?” Kim said, referring to the far-right online community, short for Ilgan Best Storage.

The issue is already showing signs of affecting support for the rival parties ahead of the June 3 elections, according to a Realmeter poll of 1,004 eligible voters conducted from May 21 to 22.

Realmeter said Monday the Democratic Party’s approval rating climbed 1.7 percentage points to 47.5 percent from the previous week; the People Power Party edged down 0.2 percentage point to 33.3 percent.

By contrast, Realmeter said the People Power Party’s decline in support appeared to be driven by the "negative impact of derogatory and mocking remarks about May 18 by some figures, as well as controversy over floor leader Song Eon-seog’s remarks on Gwangju, amid the May 18 'Tank Day' (Starbucks) controversy."

The pollster said that "although the launch of local election campaigning had helped consolidate conservative voters, the decline in support in the Honam region weighed more heavily, resulting in a slight overall downward trend."

In Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, support for the Democratic Party rose 11.2 percentage points from the previous week to 68.4 percent, while support for the People Power Party fell 9.8 percentage points to 10.9 percent.

President Lee escalated the debate by publicly floating the need for stronger action against Ilbe in a post on X on Sunday, raising the possibility of shutting down the website.

“It appears necessary to hold public discussions and conduct a substantive review of allowing necessary measures, such as shutting down websites that neglect or encourage ridicule and hatred, including Ilgan Best Storage, as well as punitive damages and fines ... under strict conditions,” Lee wrote. “I will also give instructions on the matter at the Cabinet meeting.”

Lee made the remarks while sharing a news report alleging that visitors believed to be Ilbe users mocked the late President Roh Moo-hyun during events marking the 17th anniversary of his death on Saturday, taking photos in clothing associated with Ilbe while making hand gestures linked to the online community.

In response, Rep. Lee Ju-hee, the Democratic Party’s floor spokesperson, said Sunday, “Legislation regulating hateful expression, which was repeatedly scrapped at the National Assembly in the past, is now a task our society must seriously confront.”

“However, it would need to be carefully calibrated during the legislative process to ensure that it does not devolve into political censorship or stifle legitimate criticism and satire,” the spokesperson said.

Jang Dong-hyeok on Sunday rejected calls to shut down Ilbe, accusing the ruling bloc of applying double standards by targeting right-wing websites while allowing “freedom of expression enjoyed only by pro-North Korea websites.”