Starbucks locations in South Korea have some name that are temporarily blocked amid election tension.
There are six names – Lee Jae-myung, Kim Moon-soo, Kwon Young-kook, Song Jin-ho, Hwang Kyo-ahn, and Lee Jun-seok – that customers cannot order their drinks under.
These are the candidates running in the upcoming presidential race, following former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment.
The company said it needed to “maintain political neutrality during election season,” and the ban would be lifted after the election on June 3, 2025.
South Korea: A state striving for neutral status
South Korean celebrities and businesses are known for wanting to be seen as neutral and having no affiliation with any political drama.
Moreover, the current political dynamic in the country – triggered by former president – has left the nation more divided than ever.
As South Korea prepares to elect their new president even the most common thing, including a barista calling out the name of a presidential candidate can become too political.
In recent month, increasing number of customer order their drinks via app, using phrases such as “arrest Yoon Suk Yeol” or “Lee Jae-myung [opposition leader]” as their nicknames for the order.
Naver restricts autocomplete and related search suggestions
Starbucks is not alone in it’s effort to keep thing out of politics as the country’s biggest search engine, Naver, has disable autocomplete suggestions for candidates.
Naver shared that the decision was to “provide more accurate and fair information during the election campaign.”
Along with that, public figures also have to be extra cautions with the choice of their clothing colour during the election period.
As in 2022, K-pop group Super Junior’s member Kim Hee-chul was accused of supporting the conservative People’s Power Party (PPP), when he was spotted wearing red slippers and a pink mask.
