Скачать или смотреть Year-End Reports Show Empty Streets and Shops, Blaming Government Measures

As 2025 draws to a close, reports from across South Korea depict unusually quiet streets and vacant restaurants, with many small business owners describing conditions worse than during the 1997 IMF crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic.

Owners cite reduced consumer spending, high operational costs, and competition from low-priced imports as key factors draining revenue, even during typically busy holiday periods.

Critics attribute the downturn to administration policies under President Lee Jae-myung, including short-term stimulus via consumption vouchers that allegedly fueled temporary inflation without lasting growth, failed tariff negotiations leading to large annual payments to the U.S., corporate tax pressures prompting domestic firms to relocate abroad, and insufficient barriers against Chinese goods flooding the market.

These claims form part of broader partisan debates over economic management in a challenging global environment.

Understanding these grassroots perspectives is vital, as small businesses employ a significant portion of the workforce and reflect real-time economic health beyond official statistics.

When shop owners say current conditions feel worse than past crises, does it signal policy missteps that need urgent correction—or temporary adjustments in a complex global economy?