안녕, 스타벅스 (Goodbye Starbucks Korea) Track

South Korean democracy is young, fought for, and still being defended by most citizens. A small hard-core far-right faction still long for strict authoritarian rule and martial law.

May 18, 1980 — Gwangju. After General Chun seized power and declared nationwide martial law, students and citizens in Gwangju rose up in protest demanding democracy. Chun sent elite paratroopers responding with extreme brutality — beating, bayoneting, and shooting unarmed civilians and students indiscriminately. On May 27, the military retook Gwangju by force. Thousands died.

The military government called the protesters communist agitators. The truth was suppressed for years. Foreign press was expelled. Gwangju became the sacred wound of Korean democracy. Only in the 1990s, after democratization, were victims officially recognized, perpetrators partially prosecuted, and May 18 declared a national memorial day.

The Starbucks "Tank Day" promotion hit two of the most painful moments in modern Korean democratic history:

"Tank Day" / "5/18" The date and tank imagery evoking the military tanks used to crush the Gwangju democracy uprising.

"Slam on the Desk" (TAK in Korean language). This phrase is instantly recognizable to any Korean adult as an echo of the police cover-up following the 1987 torture and death of democracy activist Park Jong-chul. His government torturers claimed they had merely slammed the table and he had died on the spot — a notorious lie that became a symbol of state brutality and cover-up, and helped trigger the 1987 democracy movement.

Obviously, people are pissed, boycotting Starbucks, and cashing in their Starbucks gift cards. Many slamming them on the counter, you know, like TAK TAK TAK