President Lee Jae-myung on Thursday brought up a 2019 Musinsa advertisement that had drawn controversy for appearing to mock the late Park Jong-chul, a democracy martyr, following his earlier criticism of Starbucks.
Sharing an image of Musinsa's ankle sock advertisement on X, formerly Twitter, the president denounced it as "an advertisement that insults and ridicules the torture-killing of Park Jong-chul and the June Democratic Uprising it sparked." The advertisement was a sock promotion that Musinsa had posted in card news format in 2019. A phrase in the ad reading "I tapped the quick-drying desk, and it dried with a thud" sparked major controversy for trivializing Park, drawing public condemnation at the time.
Musinsa subsequently went through a difficult period, deleting the advertisement and posting an official apology. The company said, "We apologize to everyone who felt offended," adding, "We deeply apologize for failing to filter out the content during our review process and, above all, for failing to properly recognize the grave historical significance of the incident in question."
However, given that the advertisement is more than seven years old, the president said, "This was a tip I received, so I need to verify whether it is true." He continued, "I hope it is not true, but if it is, it is truly a serious problem," and criticized: "They say money is a devil, but how can people in human form do such a thing?"
A Presidential Office official explained, "This reflects his consistent philosophy and determination to root out the continuing insults toward the democratization movement and its victims, as well as historical distortion and trivialization."
Earlier, President Lee had targeted Starbucks for running a "Tank Day" promotion on the anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, denouncing it as "the inhumane and outrageous behavior of low-grade merchants." In response, Shinsegae Chairman Chung Yong-jin personally issued an apology, and disciplinary actions were taken against related staff, including the dismissal of the Starbucks president.
