Barhopping out in slump-stricken Korea

By Choi Sung-jin

“Hoeshik” (company dinner) has long been an essential part of office life for salaried people in Korea. Men, in particular, could ill afford to skip the boozy bonding sessions with their bosses and colleagues to go up the corporate ladder without trouble.

That seems to be changing - if the government’s latest industrial statistics are any guide.

According to Statistics Korea, the service industry output index of bars, pubs and other drinking places stood at 73 in February, recording its lowest point since July 2000, when government statisticians started to compile related data.

“I can hardly hear someone say, ‘Let’s go another round,’ after office dinners these days,” said an employee, in his early 30s, at a commercial bank’s branch. “Our branch manager used to have one or two a week, but that was reduced to a monthly event and he hardly proposes - or coerces - to move to another place as he did before.”

The service index reflects inflation-adjusted growth compared with the base year of 2000, and a reading above 100 means that the business’ production exceeds that of 2010 and vice versa. The drinking business’ index has some seasonal factors by going up in December when people have multiple year-end parties, but normally hovers between 80 and 90. The February figure was even lower than last June, when a national epidemic dragged it down to 78.2.

The main culprit is the prolonged business slump.

Koreans visit drinking establishments far less frequently than before and, if they do, they no longer hop bars and end at the first place, bar owners say.

But households’ expenditure on liquor rose to a record high of 12,109 won, on average, last year, indicating people increasingly buy liquor and wines and drink at home.

Koreans’ drinking pattern has also changed somewhat recently, as more people prefer to drink alone and avoid being zonked out.

It is anybody’s guess, however, whether Korea’s notorious drinking habit, which the Al Jazeera news network recently described as one of the worst in the world, will change significantly, people who study drinking culture said.

“If the economy recovers, they will go back to business as usual,” an expert said.