Lawyer Koh Young-joo of the Liberal Democratic Party speaks at a rally held in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on April 18, the day before April 19th, titled "Ten Million Citizens' Right to Resist: Inheriting the Spirit of the April 19 Revolution." [Hanmi Ilbo] 

Lawyer Koh Young-joo of the Liberal Democratic Party strongly condemned Starbucks' recent "Tank Day" promotion controversy, calling it "an organized political action and witch hunt by the left-wing forces who attacked en masse using specific expressions as a pretext."

In a statement released on the 26th, Lawyer Koh and the Liberal Democratic Party's spokesperson's office stated, "The reason the attacks are intensifying despite the company's apology is that Lee Jae-myung and the left-wing camp are using the apology not as a starting point for conflict resolution and reconciliation, but as the 'beginning of collective lynching'," adding, "From now on, we will aggressively bite and tear, demand more humiliating prostration, and begin a large-scale purge. This is the key to hell's gate, to gnaw to the bone using various damages and special favors," they escalated their criticism. 

The Liberal Democratic Party, in its statement, drew a line, stating that the controversial phrases such as "Tank Tumbler" and "Bang on the desk!" were merely promotions used previously and had no connection to May 18th. They argued, "The act of linking this to political meaning and making it a target of collective attack is utterly incomprehensible from the perspective of ordinary citizens, and this kind of overinterpretation and confirmation bias is a kind of 'May 18 Over-Immersion Syndrome' and indeed 'political illness'." 

They further stated, "The situation where an actor who posted a photo of Starbucks coffee verification was removed and Chairman Chung Yong-jin was booked by the police is not only far from legal and social common sense but also bears a striking resemblance to Communist Party-style people's trials and brutal purges." 

They continued, "This attack targeting Starbucks, following the Coupang incident, is by no means a coincidence. It is uniquely targeting companies symbolizing American corporations and the market economy. Companies that even slightly evoke conservative imagery or the 'anti-communist' code seem to have their triggers pulled, and political circles, civic groups, and the media immediately move in unison to conduct a purge of liberal democracy and the free market economy." 

The Liberal Democratic Party strongly condemned "witch hunts and people's trials that are far from the rule of law and order of liberal democracy, and collective mob rule politics and propaganda politics." They appealed, "It is a time when the wise judgment of the people is desperately needed as to whom power should be delegated." 

Hanmi Ilbo Politics Desk