Recently, a KakaoTalk The message revealed by a part-time employee of a franchise bar has garnered a lot of attention online.
This drew widespread criticism as the person, alleged manager, mentioned the recent Jeju water plane crash.
Also, you saw the plane crash today, right? There seems to be a lot of people going abroad during holidays. If there’s a chance your plane crashes, text me saying, “Find a new part-timer” before I send one to your mom and dad, so I don’t have any absent employees.
— Store manager
After the shop turned out to be the Gongcha Shinsegae Daegu branch, netizens bombarded the store with protests and negative reviews.
On December 30, Gongcha Korea issued an official apology on the website.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and hurt caused by the inappropriate comments on the Gongcha Shinsegae Daegu franchise. They were against Gongcha Korea’s core values and ethics, and we feel responsible for causing great disappointment to our customers.
After investigating, we found that the incident was caused by the inappropriate behavior of the store manager. We are investigating the matter and will take appropriate action against the affected employee. We will strengthen our internal management system to prevent something like this from happening again.
We also express our deepest condolences to those who lost their former lives and their families in the unfortunate accident.”
— Gongcha Korea
Furthermore, the owner of the Shinsegae Daegu branch also posted a handwritten apology in the store.
I sincerely apologize for causing concern to many people due to the inappropriate behavior of our employees. This was caused by my negligence as the store owner and I am thinking deeply about it. I will do my best to improve operations and employee training to prevent this from happening again. I sincerely apologize to everyone injured by this incident and will work hard to regain the trust of our customers.
— Store owner
Earlier, on the morning of December 29, Jeju Air Flight 2216 flying from Bangkok, Thailand to Muan, South Korea crashed after landing on its belly and veering off the runway.
Bangkok-Korea plane crashes at Muan international airport: 179 confirmed dead
