Stock photo provided to aid understanding of the article. Clipart Korea
The number of Korean restaurants serving staples such as home-style set meals and stews is steadily declining. Operators of Korean restaurants nationwide fell by more than 6,000 over the past year, while the number of Japanese restaurant operators rose.
Korean Dining Turns Lower
According to the National Tax Service’s tax statistics portal on the 11th, the number of Korean restaurant operators nationwide stood at 403,299 as of July. That is 6,001 fewer, or 1.46%, than the 409,300 recorded in the same month a year earlier.
The Korean restaurant category covers general Korean eateries serving set meals, porridge and stews, as well as noodle shops offering cold noodles and kalguksu, barbecue restaurants and Korean seafood restaurants. Over the same period, Japanese restaurant operators totaled 23,451, up 250, or 1.07%, from 23,201 a year earlier.
Korean restaurants were among the businesses that kept adding operators even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022.
The number rose from 386,161 in 2019 to 397,465 in 2020, 404,871 in 2021 and 408,019 in 2022. The increase continued to 410,323 in 2023 and 411,145 in 2024, but turned lower starting last year, when the figure came to 406,075.
Aging Owners and Delivery Reluctance
The restaurant industry points to aging owners, low use of delivery services and surging raw material costs as reasons behind the contraction in Korean restaurants.
According to a 2025 survey report on restaurant business conditions by the Korea Rural Economic Institute, the average age of Korean restaurant owners was 56.7, three years above the average of 53.7 for all general restaurants. The gap widens to more than 10 years compared with coffee shops, which had the youngest owners at an average age of 46.4.
Use of delivery apps was also low. The survey found that eight out of 10 Korean restaurants, or 79.2%, do not use delivery apps. Most of those owners, 86.8%, said they do not offer delivery at all. Industry officials say Korean menus are difficult to package because they rely heavily on side dishes and hot dishes.
Ingredient Costs and Ready-to-Eat Meals
Food ingredient costs are also a heavy burden. Average ingredient spending in the Korean restaurant business was 11,990 won, above the 10,377 won average for all restaurants. Among 18 restaurant categories, it was the fifth highest, following institutional cafeterias at 16,788 won, catering and mobile food services at 15,491 won, Japanese restaurants at 14,448 won, and pizza, hamburger and sandwich shops at 13,502 won.
The spread of ready-to-eat meals is adding to the strain. The Korea Rural Economic Institute projected that the market for convenience meals would grow to 7.5 trillion won this year as demand for ready-to-eat food rises amid high inflation. Because Korean restaurants find it hard to raise prices even when ingredient costs climb, the structure risks a vicious cycle, prompting calls for detailed support measures.
AloJapan.com