By Choi Sung-jin
Chaeseondang, a shabu-shabu (hot pot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water) restaurant at Lotte Department Store, at Seoul Station, was crowded with "honbap" (eat-alone) guests during a recent lunchtime.
Its secret to success: serving what otherwise has been a group-clients' dish for people who come alone.
Bars are also remodeled to suit "honsul" (drink-alone) clients and movie houses rearrange facilities for "honyeong" (watch-alone) customers. "Hon" is the prefix coming from the Korean word "honja" meaning "by oneself."
Given that Koreans are people who do most things in groups _ they dine and wine with friends and coworkers, and watching movies together is one of the favorite pastimes of lovers _ the ongoing trends are certainly new, which sociologists attribute to the recent increase of single households, which account for one quarter of all households in Korea today.
People who play by themselves also can be seen everywhere.
An office worker, surnamed Chung, goes to a bar near his home at least once a week and drinks alone. "I can always call on my friends and be with them but I have come to enjoy being alone because I don't have to talk with others and suit their moods," he said. "You don't have to be part of a group to escape from loneliness once you learn how to enjoy being by yourself."
Chung said he sometimes goes to a karaoke room by himself and sings at the top of his lungs for about an hour. "At first, I felt awkward doing that but I soon realized that people pay far less attention to me than I thought they would."
That people are getting married later than before or not marrying at all has also helped to increase the number of single households. In 1990, men first got married when they were 27.8 years old on average, and women, at 24.8 years. Now the average ages for first marriage have gone up to 32.6 years for men and 30.0 years for women.
The single tribe in their 20s and 30s, particularly those armed with economic means, have become quite willing to loosen their purse strings for their well-being, leading to a new coinage, "solo economy" in reference to their influence on the economy.
While household expenditures hit bottom amid the protracted economic slump, the propensity to consume among single households rose to 77.6 percent in the second quarter of this year, up 3.3 percentage points from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. This means that when these single households have 1 million won in additional disposable income, they spend 776,000 won of it. On the other hand, households with two or more members averaged spending only 70.9 percent of their disposable income, hitting the lowest level since 2003 when the national statistical office began to collect related figures.
"Given the changes in social structure toward an increasing number of people who live alone, it is more than natural for them to do many other things by themselves," said Professor Kim Sang-hak of Hanyang University. "Young people today tend to feel it burdensome to ask for others' time and to spend money to do things together and even show some resistance against collectivism of some sorts."
Solo consumption is not necessarily limited to younger generations, though.
According to the Shinhan Credit Card's in-house institute for studying new trends, the portion the "honbap" (eat-alone) tribes take in the dining-out industry stood at 7.3 percent last year, more than double the 3.3 percent in 2011. The share of "honyeong" (watch-alone) tribe at movies also rose from 19.1 percent to 24.4 percent over the cited period.
By age, the 20-something male honbap tribe accounted for the largest share of 31.9 percent, indicating most job-seekers tend to eat alone. In the case of women, however, the share of the honbap tribe in their 40s and 50s sharply increased from 31.6 percent to 40.6 percent, meaning middle-aged women joined the eat-alone group in large numbers.
Also, the share of middle-aged women who watched films by themselves increased from 19.4 percent to 23.3 percent of the female "honyeong" tribe, meaning one in every four women who watch movies alone are middle-aged.
"Besides the increase of single households, economically stable middle-aged people have increased their cultural consumption," said Namkung Seol, head of the institute. "Solo consumption is no longer limited to the younger generations but is spreading rapidly to other age groups."
Industry experts cite three sectors as the biggest beneficiaries of the rapidly growing solo economy _ convenience stores, consumer electronics and the pet industry.
"From now on, lunchboxes at convenience stores will become far better in quality and more expensive while consumer appliances will get far smaller in size but more convenient," an expert said. "The pet industry will also expand to a level where some dogs and cats raised by single, wealthy professionals may enjoy far more luxurious lives than many people in low income brackets."
Chaeseondang, a shabu-shabu (hot pot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water) restaurant at Lotte Department Store, at Seoul Station, was crowded with "honbap" (eat-alone) guests during a recent lunchtime.
Its secret to success: serving what otherwise has been a group-clients' dish for people who come alone.
Bars are also remodeled to suit "honsul" (drink-alone) clients and movie houses rearrange facilities for "honyeong" (watch-alone) customers. "Hon" is the prefix coming from the Korean word "honja" meaning "by oneself."
Given that Koreans are people who do most things in groups _ they dine and wine with friends and coworkers, and watching movies together is one of the favorite pastimes of lovers _ the ongoing trends are certainly new, which sociologists attribute to the recent increase of single households, which account for one quarter of all households in Korea today.
People who play by themselves also can be seen everywhere.
An office worker, surnamed Chung, goes to a bar near his home at least once a week and drinks alone. "I can always call on my friends and be with them but I have come to enjoy being alone because I don't have to talk with others and suit their moods," he said. "You don't have to be part of a group to escape from loneliness once you learn how to enjoy being by yourself."
Chung said he sometimes goes to a karaoke room by himself and sings at the top of his lungs for about an hour. "At first, I felt awkward doing that but I soon realized that people pay far less attention to me than I thought they would."
That people are getting married later than before or not marrying at all has also helped to increase the number of single households. In 1990, men first got married when they were 27.8 years old on average, and women, at 24.8 years. Now the average ages for first marriage have gone up to 32.6 years for men and 30.0 years for women.
The single tribe in their 20s and 30s, particularly those armed with economic means, have become quite willing to loosen their purse strings for their well-being, leading to a new coinage, "solo economy" in reference to their influence on the economy.
While household expenditures hit bottom amid the protracted economic slump, the propensity to consume among single households rose to 77.6 percent in the second quarter of this year, up 3.3 percentage points from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. This means that when these single households have 1 million won in additional disposable income, they spend 776,000 won of it. On the other hand, households with two or more members averaged spending only 70.9 percent of their disposable income, hitting the lowest level since 2003 when the national statistical office began to collect related figures.
"Given the changes in social structure toward an increasing number of people who live alone, it is more than natural for them to do many other things by themselves," said Professor Kim Sang-hak of Hanyang University. "Young people today tend to feel it burdensome to ask for others' time and to spend money to do things together and even show some resistance against collectivism of some sorts."
Solo consumption is not necessarily limited to younger generations, though.
According to the Shinhan Credit Card's in-house institute for studying new trends, the portion the "honbap" (eat-alone) tribes take in the dining-out industry stood at 7.3 percent last year, more than double the 3.3 percent in 2011. The share of "honyeong" (watch-alone) tribe at movies also rose from 19.1 percent to 24.4 percent over the cited period.
By age, the 20-something male honbap tribe accounted for the largest share of 31.9 percent, indicating most job-seekers tend to eat alone. In the case of women, however, the share of the honbap tribe in their 40s and 50s sharply increased from 31.6 percent to 40.6 percent, meaning middle-aged women joined the eat-alone group in large numbers.
Also, the share of middle-aged women who watched films by themselves increased from 19.4 percent to 23.3 percent of the female "honyeong" tribe, meaning one in every four women who watch movies alone are middle-aged.
"Besides the increase of single households, economically stable middle-aged people have increased their cultural consumption," said Namkung Seol, head of the institute. "Solo consumption is no longer limited to the younger generations but is spreading rapidly to other age groups."
Industry experts cite three sectors as the biggest beneficiaries of the rapidly growing solo economy _ convenience stores, consumer electronics and the pet industry.
"From now on, lunchboxes at convenience stores will become far better in quality and more expensive while consumer appliances will get far smaller in size but more convenient," an expert said. "The pet industry will also expand to a level where some dogs and cats raised by single, wealthy professionals may enjoy far more luxurious lives than many people in low income brackets."
