The consumption downturn has dealt a major blow to popular second-round places like Jun’s and reflects a broader slowdown in domestic demand in Asia’s fourth-largest economy which barely grew in the third quarter.
It also underlines the challenges facing South Korean businesses from noraebangs, or singing rooms, to retail rents and mom-and-pop pubs.
“I don’t see anyone drunk any more. The streets here used to be packed … that’s long gone,” said Jun, 77, glancing over an empty hallway that once bustled with people playing drinking games.
While elevated borrowing costs remain a dampener on consumers generally, the fast disappearing mom-and-pop beer halls like Jun’s that point to a shift in South Korea’s hard-drinking culture suggests other more enduring forces are at play.
The rise of a health-conscious younger generation across the region is one key factor.
In neighbouring Japan, for instance, increased health awareness and the flexible working style brought about by the pandemic have also led to a decline in their alcohol consumption, according to a survey by Euromonitor.
At home, in the years after a 2007 ruling by the Seoul high court that deemed it an offence to force subordinates to drink alcohol, an increasing number of women have started to complain about hoesik as it takes time away from childcare and due to the risk of sexual harassment.