A beverage cup at a Starbucks inside Hong Kong International Airport shows "Kimchi" written in place of a Korean customer's surname, Kim, on Oct. 11. [Courtesy of reader/The Korea Herald]
A beverage cup at a Starbucks inside Hong Kong International Airport shows "Kimchi" written in place of a Korean customer's surname, Kim, on Oct. 11. [Courtesy of reader/The Korea Herald]

A racism controversy has erupted after a Korean customer surnamed Kim received a drink cup labeled "Kimchi" at a Starbucks inside Hong Kong International Airport.

The 38-year-old man, identified only by his surname Kim, was with his wife at the airport's departure terminal on Oct. 11, ordering drinks at a Starbucks just before boarding a flight to Seoul.

When a staff member called out "KIM" to signal his order was ready, he picked up the cup without checking the label and headed to the gate.

It was only while waiting to board that he noticed the cup read "Kimchi" — not "KIM."

Kim recalled that two employees had been looking at a monitor and laughing among themselves when he collected his drink, though he had not thought much of it at the time.

He returned to the store and asked a staff member for an explanation. The employee who had taken the order apologized, saying the name had been entered incorrectly by mistake and that no offense was intended.

Kim was not satisfied with that explanation and asked to speak with a manager. The manager showed him the point-of-sale screen and explained that the employee had initially typed "Kim" but accidentally selected "Kimchi" from a dropdown during the name-selection process. The manager acknowledged, however, that the labeling had been "discourteous."

After reviewing the screen, Kim concluded that selecting "Kimchi" over "Kim" would have required a separate, deliberate input. He called for a formal apology from the store and measures to prevent a recurrence.

Starbucks Hong Kong had remained silent until media inquiries began, at which point it issued a written statement Tuesday saying it "sincerely apologizes for the distress and concern caused to the customer." The company said it "does not tolerate discrimination or disrespectful behavior" and takes "seriously any concerns raised about language or actions that may cause offense."

It added that it had reached out to Kim directly to apologize and would strengthen internal staff training to prevent similar incidents.

Starbucks has consistently faced accusations of racism toward Asian customers. Earlier this year, a store in California came under fire after a staff member wrote the racial slur "yellow" on a Korean customer's cup.

In January 2021, a Starbucks employee in Dublin, Ireland, drew slanted eyes on the cup of a Thai customer and was ordered to pay 12,000 euros ($13,500) in damages.

In 2017, a staff member at a Starbucks in Manhattan, New York, wrote "Ching" — an anti-Asian slur — on the order label of a Korean man, drawing widespread condemnation. In 2012, a Starbucks employee at a store in Atlanta, Georgia, handed a Korean customer a cup with slanted eyes drawn on it, sparking a similar outcry over anti-Asian discrimination.


betterj@heraldcorp.com