A Gong Cha franchise manager in South Korea sparked outrage by instructing employees to notify their supervisor before family members in the event of a plane crash.
The directive was posted on December 29, the same day a Jeju Air flight from Bangkok crashed on landing in South Korea, killing 179 people in the country’s deadliest aviation incident to date.
The incident surfaced when an intern at the Shinsegae Department Store branch in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, shared the manager’s message on social media.
“Did you see the plane explosion today? Some people are going overseas during the holiday. If a crash happens, send me a message saying ‘hire an intern’ before contacting mum and dad. Do not be absent,“ the message stated.
The intern also revealed a pattern of concerning behaviour, citing the manager’s routine insulting comments, which were justified as ‘testing the staff.’
In response, Gong Cha Korea issued a statement on December 30, confirming the incident resulted from the franchise manager’s improper personal conduct.
“We are addressing this issue and taking appropriate measures against the staff involved,“ the statement read.
The shop owner issued a handwritten apology, taking responsibility and pledging to reflect deeply while improving store operations and staff training to prevent future incidents.
“We sincerely seek forgiveness from all those hurt by this incident and will do our utmost to regain our customers’ trust,“ the owner stated.
