Corporate Leaders Mandated for Historical Awareness and Social Sensitivity Education
Top executives, including Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin, along with leadership from E-Mart and Starbucks Korea, are participating in mandatory education programs focused on historical awareness and social sensitivity. This initiative stems from a period of self-reflection aimed at preventing a recurrence of past marketing controversies.
Shinsegae Group announced on the 17th that Chairman Chung and executives across E-Mart and Starbucks Korea are undergoing this comprehensive historical and social sensitivity training. The company also stated that its entire marketing approval system is being re-evaluated.
Starbucks Korea Partners to Receive Immediate Training
Partners working at Starbucks Korea stores are scheduled to receive their training on the 22nd. On this day, all stores nationwide will close early at 3 PM to allow staff to view educational videos on historical awareness and social sensitivity. This process mirrors the training conducted for executives on the 17th.
Chairman Chung Yong-jin is also receiving dedicated historical education alongside other group representatives. This training will precede a meeting of division heads on the 24th. This action fulfills Chairman Chung’s public promise to undergo historical education following recent events and underscores a renewed commitment to accountability among all management.
Broader Employee Training and Expert Involvement
Employees within the E-Mart division will undertake similar online educational courses over a two-week period starting July 1st. The initial focus will be on head office employees and field managers.
The historical awareness training is being led by Professor Oh Yeon-seong of Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of History. Professor Oh, a scholar specializing in modern Korean history, will review significant modern historical incidents since the 1950s and provide guidance on their proper interpretation.
Social sensitivity education is being conducted by Professor Gu Jeong-woo from Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of Sociology. This session will address how companies should consider and address social issues such as history, labor, gender, and human rights in their marketing and business activities.
Systemic Risk Prevention for Marketing Campaigns
To prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, Starbucks Korea is also systematizing risk prevention measures for its marketing processes. Through consultations with external experts, a ‘social sensitivity’ checklist has been developed. This checklist will be a mandatory component of risk assessment from the planning stage.
While previous planning stages focused primarily on legality and brand alignment, the new process will incorporate pre-emptive evaluation of socially sensitive issues. These include historical events, commemorative days, politics, disasters, military matters, gender, violence, and expressions of contempt.
The checklist will meticulously examine potential conflicts with public commemorative days or anniversaries, and ensure that expressions do not inadvertently target or disparage specific groups. Review periods will also be extended to ensure thorough vetting, preventing insufficient reviews due to tight deadlines.
Standardized reporting formats will be introduced to clearly outline key details and decision-making processes during budget approvals and negotiations. Furthermore, a new system will be implemented requiring final review by department heads, as well as relevant quality and legal affairs executives, before any marketing content is released to customers. This ensures all customer-facing content undergoes a rigorous, multi-stage approval process.
