'No soju, Americano please': Young Koreans are drinking less, and bars are feeling it
A liquor refrigerator glows inside an otherwise empty bar near Hanyang University in Seongdong District, Seoul, March 12. Korea Times photo by Kim Jun-hyeong
As young Koreans choose Americano and zero-sugar cola over soju, bars and restaurants feel the hit
"I hardly drink at all — one or two glasses of beer at most."
Kim Min-ha, a 21-year-old sophomore at Sookmyung Women’s University, recently headed to a cafe with fellow club members after a meet-up. They each ordered one of the newly released drinks and chatted for a while before parting ways.
On the rare occasions that they do go out for beer, only a few actually order alcohol. Kim said the gatherings usually start at 6 p.m. and end around 8 or 9 p.m.
Kim’s experience reflects the growing spread of moderate drinking and abstinence culture among young Koreans. Gatherings that do not involve alcohol — usually centered on dinner, cafes or karaoke rather than bars — are becoming more common, and the shift is also changing the face of evening streets in university districts.
An increasing number of college students say they no longer see much point in drinking. Lee Ye-chan, 25, said alcohol tastes unpleasant to him and only leaves him feeling bloated.
"So I just order a zero-sugar cola, even at a bar," he said.
Park Ye-ka, 21, said she also avoids alcohol because it affects her condition the next day. She added that relationships formed around drinking often do not feel lasting.
"And honestly, the cost is burdensome too," she said.
Empty tables are seen behind alcohol promotional displays at a bar near Seoul National University in Gwanak District, Seoul, March 17. Korea Times photo by Kim Jun-hyeong
Bars on streets near college campuses are also feeling the effects of the cultural shift. The start of a new semester once meant packed nights of student parties and club gatherings, but this year the streets seem to have lost much of that atmosphere.
At a lamb skewer restaurant near Seoul National University Station on the evening of March 17, only five of its 18 tables were occupied. Even then, just one was taken by college students.
“In the past, every table would be lined with five or six bottles of soju and beer,” said Oh, the owner, who is in his 70s. “Now students either do not drink at all, or they order just one or two bottles and leave.”
The same pattern was visible around Hanyang University, where foot traffic is relatively heavy. Choi, 45, who has run a gastropub near the campus for 16 years, showed her sales records and said her average monthly revenue had dropped by 12 million won (around $8,000) compared with a year earlier
“Only one in five tables order alcohol. A customer ordering alcohol in heavy is like winning a lottery,” she said.
Sales records from the past two years shown by the owner of a bar near Hanyang University. Revenue has fallen sharply as college students increasingly embrace a lower-drinking culture. Korea Times photo by Kim Jun-hyeong
The same shift is playing out in commercial districts clustered around office towers. Bars are drawing fewer customers as younger office workers increasingly find after-work gatherings with colleagues unappealing and favor meetups that do not involve alcohol.
“Large company dinners with alcohol are far less common than they used to be, and even smaller gatherings now consist mostly of people in their 40s and 50s,” said Kim Kyung-won, 29, who works at a beer pub near Seoul City Hall Station, before adding that young office workers generally don’t drink.
The owner of a hangover soup restaurant, who is in his 70s, also said he has been struggling.
“Far fewer people come in to cure a hangover these days, and hardly anyone drinks with the soup anymore,” he said.
Alcohol consumption in South Korea has been falling noticeably year after year. National Tax Service data show total domestic liquor shipments declining for a second consecutive year, from 3,268,623 kiloliters in 2022 to 3,237,036 kiloliters in 2023 and 3,151,371 kiloliters in 2024.
More business owners are also either changing industries or closing shop altogether. As of December last year, the sectors that recorded the steepest year-on-year decline in the number of businesses were casual bars, which fell 10.4 percent, and beer pubs, down 9.5 percent.
Kim, 58, who reopened last year as a barbecue restaurant, said the drop had become impossible to withstand. “I used to sell as many as four boxes a day of soju and beer combined, but that was cut in half. I simply couldn’t hold on any longer,” he said.
Experts have largely welcomed the cultural shift toward drinking less, but say urgent support is needed for small business owners trying to adapt to fast-changing consumer habits.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.