Why Do Retired Koreans Open Chicken Shops and Cafés?
Koreans leave salaried work around 50 and cannot draw a pension for a decade. Self-employment fills the gap, and 60 percent of those businesses close in five years.
small business
Why Do Korean Local Governments Issue Their Own Money?
Korean local currency is a discount voucher that only spends locally and only at small businesses. It works by design, and the design is the argument.
Why Does Seoul Have So Many Underground Shopping Arcades?
Seoul’s underground shopping arcades were built as air raid shelters and pedestrian tunnels, paid for by giving builders decades of shop rent.
What Is Gwolligeum? Korean Shop Key Money Explained
Gwolligeum is key money paid by one Korean shop tenant to another, not to the landlord. Illegal to recognise until 2015, now protected by statute.
Why Does South Korea Have So Many Convenience Stores?
South Korea has about 55,900 franchised convenience stores. How small-basket demand, single-person households and franchise supply explain the density.