Henryetta Ha from Korea Like in other countries around the world, the dominance of American popular culture is strong in Korea. Establishments such as McDonalds, Pizza Huts, and Starbucks are found everywhere in Korea, and they are increasingly popular. Several months ago, a Starbucks was opened in Insadong, a traditional Korean Street, where there are many Korean antique stores. The owners of the stores and the residents in Insadong protested against the new Starbucks and tried to get the store closed. Surprised by the response, Starbucks decided to change the atmosphere of the store into a traditional Korean one. They changed the logo which consisted of nine letters "S, T, A, R, B, U, C, K, S" into Korean characters. They also changed the interior of the coffee shop, which is always the same around the world, to make it look like a Korean place. Moreover, they replaced the staff uniforms with new uniforms. A Starbucks official said it was a really unusual situation. He said they had never changed the logo or the interior design of any of their stores before. However, the citizen groups and the owners of the stores were not satisfied; they petitioned for signatures and held demonstrations to get Starbucks out of Insadong.
Although the resistance was strong, it does not seem that this Starbucks will be closed because most young Koreans still enjoy going to it. At
the stands, they sign the petitions against
Starbucks, and then they go into that same
Starbucks store to drink coffee. Return
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