Starbucks Korea Gives $74,000 in Scholarships to Descendants of Independence Activists as Operating Losses Deepen
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Starbucks Korea awarded 100 million won (about $74,000) in scholarships to 50 descendants of Korean independence activists on Nov. 12, ahead of South Korea's Nov. 17 Memorial Day for Patriots and Veterans. Each recipient received 2 million won. The initiative was organized in partnership with the country's veterans affairs agency and the Korea National Council on Social Welfare.
Scholarship program has supported 533 descendants
The scholarship program dates to 2015 and has provided assistance to 533 descendants of independence activists, with cumulative contributions totaling approximately 1.1 billion won. The money comes from customer contributions collected at Starbucks Korea's community stores, which support local social initiatives.
Operating losses widen as seasonal promotion returns
SCK Company, the operator of Starbucks in South Korea, reported an operating loss of 45.3 billion won in the third quarter of 2026, compared with a loss of 18.4 billion won in the second quarter. The company has now recorded operating losses for two consecutive quarters. Revenue fell 16.2% from a year earlier to 679 billion won.
SCK Company attributed much of the weakness to the cancellation of its summer e-Frequency promotion, a seasonal loyalty campaign that encourages customers to collect digital stamps in exchange for promotional merchandise. The summer event was suspended following a marketing controversy involving the phrase "Tank Day" in May. In response to the deteriorating results, Starbucks Korea reorganized its operations in October and relaunched its winter e-Frequency campaign in November.
Starbucks Korea's place in the global business
Starbucks entered South Korea in 1999, opening its first location near Ewha Womans University in Seoul. A year later, South Korea's Shinsegae Group and U.S.-based Starbucks established a 50-50 joint venture to operate the business. By 2026, the Korean operation had expanded to more than 2,100 stores, making South Korea the company's third-largest market worldwide, ahead of Japan.
Locally, Starbucks is also affectionately known as "Byeoldabang," a Korean nickname that combines the word for star with a familiar term for a coffeehouse. The company remains part of the global Starbucks network, headquartered in Seattle, where it was founded in 1971 as a retailer of coffee beans before Howard Schultz acquired it in 1987 and transformed it into a coffeehouse business.
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