South Korea - December 20, 2024 The consumer market in South Korea, particularly the catering and tourism sectors, has been hit hard by the political turmoil in the country, as consumer sentiment has kept weakening since the shortly-lived martial law imposition early this month. With the country's president impeached for instituting the short-lived stint of martial law later on, the combination of political uncertainty and a weakening currency has created a challenging environment for South Korean businesses. The results of a latest survey conducted by the Korean Federation of Small Business Owners for 1,630 individual businesses showed that more than 88 percent of the respondents said that their sales in the week after the emergency martial law incident were significantly lower than the previous week, and 36 percent of individual businesses had a sharp drop in sales in a single week. The losses suffered by these companies were mainly manifested in the delay, reduction, and cancellation of contracts and orders. On Friday night, in the catering street in the Hongdae business district in Seoul, only a few people were eating in the restaurants even during the rush hour of dining. The owner of one barbecue restaurant located in the metropolitan area said that nearly 50 percent of the orders for year-end gatherings have been cancelled, and the store's business has been very poor lately. At the end of the year, shopping malls in major business districts in South Korea would usually hold various discount promotions and welcome an influx of shoppers. But recently many large department stores said that the flow of customers has decreased significantly. Data show that on the two Sundays, Dec 8 and 15, after the martial law incident, the traffic around many department stores in the metropolitan area of South Korea decreased by 26 percent and 18 percent year-on-year. Due to the unstable political situation recently, event organizers have also considered canceling or reducing the scale of festival celebration activities. At present, operators of winter celebration projects in Seoul, Busan, Daegu and other places have announced the cancellation of opening ceremonies or parades. The tourism sector has also born the brunt. Hotels close to the Seoul City Government and the National Assembly have recently seen a large number of orders canceled. Fewer tour groups from overseas are visiting the country and Korean people's demand for overseas travel has also shrunk due to the depreciation of the Korean won as a result. Shotlist: Seoul, South Korea - Dec 20, 2024: 1. Various of commercial street, shops; 2. Various of nearly-empty restaurant, diners eating; 3. Various of chef stir-frying dishes in kitechen; 4. Various of commercial street, shop signs; 5. Various of nearly-empty barbeque restaurant, diners eating; 6. Various of restaurant owner talking to reporter, showing numbers on cash register screen; 7. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Jeong Dung Gwan, owner, local barbeque restaurant (ending with shot 8): "Even if we calculate it by average, it cannot be compared with the sales of the same period last year. There's a huge gap."; 8. Jeong working in kiten; 9. Various of shoppers, commercial street; 10. Signs of promotions; 11. Various of exterior of department stores, traffic; 12. Shoppers in mall; 13. SOUNDBITE (Korean) local resident (name not given) (ending with shot 14): "At the end of the year, there are usually many annual meetings and other gatherings, but after the martial law incident, everyone's psychological state of consumption has changed, and gatherings with friends are often cancelled."; 14. Shops, pedestrians; 15. SOUNDBITE (Korean) local resident (name not given) (ending with shot 14): "There are rallies and demonstrations everywhere in Seoul, and you can see a lot of police cars. To be honest, I really don't want to go out."; Seoul, South Korea - Recent 16. Various of police cars patroling; 17. Tourists posing for photo; 18. Sign of winter festival in Seoul; 19. Tourists posing for photo, decoration lights; Seoul, South Korea - Dec 20, 2024 20. Various of shoppers, commercial street. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]