"Habits Must Change" ... Jeong Yong-jin Signals End to 'Sorry, Thank You' Controversy

Signs of Boycott Movement, Emart Shareholders Complain "Stop SNS"
"PR Manager Told Not to Do Anything Misunderstood," Apology

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Chung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, posted on social networking service (SNS) that "habits of over 50 years must also be corrected." This is interpreted as his intention not to write posts that could cause misunderstandings in the future, following controversy over his repeated use of the phrase "sorry and thank you."

On the afternoon of the 8th, Vice Chairman Chung posted on his Instagram along with a photo of glasses, "I originally use my middle finger to push up my glasses. Because it’s long and comfortable. But our PR manager told me not to do things that could be misunderstood because it’s hard for him. ㅠㅠ Sorry, Mingyu. Even habits of over 50 years must be corrected. From now on, I will use the shortest finger."

Here, Mingyu refers to Kim Mingyu, the PR manager of Shinsegae Group. As Vice Chairman Chung’s remarks sparked controversy and backlash among netizens, it is understood that he decided to be more cautious in his SNS activities going forward.

Earlier, since last month, Vice Chairman Chung had been posting photos of raw ingredients such as fish and meat with captions like "Goodbye, crayfish. Sorry and thank you," and "Goodbye, rockfish. You really upheld the pride of rockfish. Sorry and thank you."

Online, some speculated that this was a mockery of President Moon Jae-in’s message in March 2017 when he visited Jindo Pangmok Port as a presidential candidate and wrote in the guestbook, "Kids, you were the starlight of the candlelight square. Your souls became 10 million candlelights. Sorry and thank you." There were also claims that Vice Chairman Chung’s caption on the meat photo, "You raised our taste buds," was a play on former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon’s message at the Sewol ferry memorial, "You rebuilt South Korea."

As the controversy grew, Vice Chairman Chung quickly deleted the post that said "You raised our taste buds," but continued to use variations of "sorry and thank you," such as "sorry and thank you" in English and "OOOO OOO." The night before, he posted a photo of his pet dog and a memorial message, saying, "My Silbi brought a lot of love to our home. Silbi, really sorry and thank you. OOO OO OOOOO O OO OOO," which further fueled the controversy.

Among netizens, there were claims that "Vice Chairman Chung’s continued use of problematic expressions despite being aware of the issue is a disregard for consumers," along with criticisms such as "No matter how private the space is, as the owner of a company, he should think and act carefully." Some even called for a boycott of Emart, Emart24, No Brand Burger, Starbucks, and other businesses led by Vice Chairman Chung. Those claiming to be Emart shareholders protested, saying, "This is an owner risk. Please stop SNS."

A Shinsegae Group official explained, "The previous expressions were just referring to cooking ingredients with no other intention," and added that the recent statement was "an expression of his intention not to make controversial remarks on SNS in the future."

An industry insider said, "Vice Chairman Chung has used his SNS to introduce Shinsegae and Emart products and services and promote the baseball team SSG Landers, creating a friendly image for consumers. Now that he says even habits of over 50 years must be corrected, it seems he will refrain from remarks and actions that could cause issues in the future."