Reservations cancelled one after another, owners forced to throw away ingredients

[Anchor]

Amid an already difficult economy, the situation has worsened with the short-lived martial law and subsequent impeachment, leaving local businesses in distress.

With a flood of reservation cancellations, some restaurants are having to throw away all the ingredients they had prepared.

Reporter Choi Yoo-kyung has covered the situation on-site.

[Report]

This is a restaurant near Seoul City Hall, which usually has many group reservations.

Anticipating the 'year-end business boomspecial', they introduced new menu items and increased staff, but about one-third of this month's reservations have been canceled.

We looked at the reservation ledger.

[“As you can see, there are parts marked in white (with a correction pen), and there are handwritten notes, and the cancellations are quite a lot more than expected.”]

December, which sees many gatherings, is a crucial time for small business owners.

While costs are consistent every month, most businesses earn their income primarily at the year-end.

A decrease in year-end sales can easily lead to an annual deficit.

[Kwon Byeong-geun/Restaurant Manager: “Sales typically increase about threefold at year-end, so we prepare a lot more considering that.”]

The cost of ingredients is already high.

What do they do with the meat, fish, and vegetables that were purchased in advance?

[Cheon Geum-dan/Restaurant Owner: “We disposed of everything. We just threw away bundles of perilla leaves and lettuce.”]

Accommodation businesses are also hit hard.

The slight increase in foreign tourists has suddenly stopped.

Cancellation emails are pouring in.

[Lee Kwan-cheol/Accommodation Business Owner: “Cancellations have doubled compared to last month. We can say that sales have halved.”]

Some countries had even issued 'travel advisories' at one point.

It is uncertain how long it will take for the effects to dissipate.

[Lee Kwan-cheol/Accommodation Business Owner: “In my view, it will take at least three months.”]

KBS commissioned Korea Credit Data to analyze card sales in the restaurant industry nationwide.

In the first week of December, right after the martial law declaration, sales were down by 9% compared to a year ago, and while the second week showed some improvement, it was still in the negative.

Considering that dining prices have risen by more than 2% compared to a year ago, the actual sales decrease felt on the ground is likely to be in double digits.

This is KBS News, Choi Yoo-kyung.