BUSINESSES STRUGGLE AMID DEMAND SURGE

[Anchor Lead]

Now that businesses can stay open around the clock, night life in Korea is vibrant again. But some places struggle because of the sudden surge in demand. Restaurants are understaffed, while catching cabs late at night is now a challenge.

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It's already past midnight, but the streets bustle with people. Tables on patios are full of customers. Workers are busy preparing to serve new ones. Business owners appear relieved.

[Soundbite] Min Min-cheol(Bar owner) : "We've been full for two hours now. Once some customers leave, new ones arrive."

But restaurants and bars operating during late evening hours are understaffed. The number of ads looking for part-time workers in the first quarter of this year surged nearly 70 percent on year. Businesses that operate mostly during daytime started hiring staff gradually last year. However, those that operate at night had to cut staff until recently. Now they are suddenly looking for new workers.

[Soundbite] Park Jae-yeon(Bar staff) : "We were not sure if it was okay to post ads and hire staff because restrictions could be imposed again and we would lose customers."

Around midnight, finding an empty cab in the Hongdae area in Seoul is almost impossible.

[Soundbite] Song Yi-hyun, Ji Hye-won(Seoul Residents) : "We couldn't catch a cab for about 20 minutes, so we came here and we've been trying to catch one for 10 minutes now."

The number of corporate taxi drivers has dwindled by a third since the start of the pandemic. The Seoul city government says the number of taxi passengers between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Tuesday nearly doubled compared to when business hours were restricted to 9 p.m. Seoul City says it will resume the full operation of private taxis from Wednesday, and make nighttime cabs available until late at night.