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When the first Starbucks Coffee shop opened in Korea in 1999, it made a sensation. At that time, the western style coffee culture was not popular among Koreans and many Koreans had no idea about Starbucks Coffee, except several people who traveled in U.S. I remember, my professor whose major is American History, said, "Finally, Starbucks entered Korea."
But in current, I can see Starbucks Coffee shops in everywhere in Korea. Moreover, similar western coffee shops are spreading at incredible speed. Many people, especially young generation, enjoy drinking coffee and spending their time at these coffee shops. The "Starbucks" created "coffee boom" in Korea and became the symbol of this mass culture for just a few years.
In Seoul, there is one famous street like Soho in New York. There are lots of Korean traditional restaurants, fancy stores and galleries. This street is the first tourist place for foreign visitors. Couple of years ago, Starbucks Coffee tired to open their shop in this area. However, this plan was delayed because of strong hostility toward Star Bucks. Many people who wanted to protect the traditianl korean culture thought that Starbuck is a symbol of cultural colonization. It became the social issue and Starbucks Coffee solved this problem by promising to use "Korean title su-ta-bak-su" and "Koreanized" decoration for this shop. This funny event showes many things. (Photo of this Starbucks Coffee chain)
In general, many people are critical about multinational industries like MacDonald and Starbucks. They try to refuse the influence of commercialized mass culture produced by these multinational industries. However, it cannot be denied that this mass culture is already a part of an ordinary life and culture.
All original images were retrieved from Google Image. ------>
The following photoshop skills were applied.
