As temperatures soar, open doors at stores fuel energy waste debate

Passersby walk under parasols along Sejong-daero in central Seoul, Tuesday. The daytime high reached 37.1 degrees Celsius, surpassing the capital's early-July record high from 1939. Newsis

As a relentless heat wave grips Korea, stores in the country’s busiest shopping districts are keeping their doors wide open, blasting air conditioning to draw in heat-weary passersby.

The practice, locally known as “open-door cooling,” is drawing renewed scrutiny as temperatures soar and concerns mount over energy waste and environmental impact.

Around 1 p.m. in Myeong-dong’s downtown shopping district, where temperatures hovered near 36 degrees Celsius, nearly every shop along a 300-meter stretch near Myeongdong Station — 50 out of 54 stores surveyed — kept their doors open, blasting out air conditioned air that spilled onto the sidewalks.

“It’s too hot, let’s take a break in here,” a passerby in her 30s said to her companion, pointing at a nearby Olive Young health and beauty product chain store. “I needed a new eyeliner anyway.”

Lee, 45, who runs a food shop in the district, said there is “a 100 percent difference between keeping the door open and closed.”

“If we keep the doors closed, customers just don’t come in, especially in this sweltering weather. It’s tough for us too, with the heat and high electricity bills, but we have no other choice,” she said.

Stores in Seoul's Myeong-dong shopping district keep their doors open with air conditioning on full blast to lure passersby, Aug. 5, 2024. Korea Times photo by Lee Yu-jin

Kim, who manages a cosmetics store nearby, echoed the sentiment.

“If we close the door, sales drop sharply. Other shops started opening their doors a few weeks ago, so we are just following suit,” she said.

On Tuesday, Seoul’s temperature climbed to 37.1 degrees Celsius around 2 p.m., setting a record high for early July that surpassed the previous record of 36.8 degrees set on July 9, 1939.

The phenomenon isn’t confined to Myeong-dong. In the bustling Gangnam district in the southern part of the capital, arcade parlors, florists, opticians and stationery shops likewise kept their doors open, spilling cool air onto the street.

Meanwhile, the environmental cost of open-door cooling is significant.

According to the Korea Energy Agency, open-door cooling consumes about 66 percent more electricity than keeping doors closed. The excess use of air conditioning not only drives up power bills for small business owners, but also exacerbates the urban heat island effect, as air conditioners pump hot air into already sweltering city streets.

That is why, under the current Energy Use Rationalization Act, open-door cooling is prohibited, with fines of up to 3 million won ($2,194) imposed on repeat offenders.

However, enforcement is rare. Inspections typically take place only when the national power reserve falls below 10 percent, and the last major crackdown in Seoul occurred in 2016, with just three fines issued nationwide in the following year.

While many merchants argue that open-door cooling is unavoidable in the current competitive climate, experts say stronger regulation is needed to break the cycle.

“A level playing field is essential so that all businesses can operate under the same rule,” said Park Su-hong of Green Korea United.

Professor Yoo Seung-hoon at Seoul National University of Science and Technology’s Department of Future Energy Convergence said, “Open-door cooling is one of the factors that increases emission of greenhouse gases and fine particulate matter.

“There is a need to establish more effective regulatory measures for electricity use,” he said, suggesting introducing a progressive electricity rate system for small business owners, similar to what is applied to households, to discourage open-door cooling.