[News Today] Stores empty due to slow economy

[LEAD]
Commercial stores across the country are growing empty, from central Seoul to newly developed towns. A prolonged economic slump and the rise of online shopping are driving the trend.

[REPORT]
This apartment complex in Gangdong-gu District of Seoul is home to more than ten thousand households.

Its residents began to move in more than half a year ago, but the stores are still empty.

There are "for lease" signs here and there.

Building staff / (VOICE MODIFIED)
They have been unoccupied since the opening. The commercial zone is not activated yet.

The local real estate agents say more than half of the stores are still empty.

They say the stores could stay empty for quite a while.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the vacancy rate of medium to large stores was around 12%.

But it hasn't recovered since then, and even rose further to surpass 13%.

An alley in a university area in Seoul...

Stores here are also empty.

In some alleys, more than ten stores have been closed down.

KBS has conducted an analysis with a firm specializing in information on commercial districts.

This neighborhood used to be home to more than 1300 restaurants in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

But now, six years later, about 380 of them have disappeared.

About half of some 500 retail stores have been closed down, and only a fourth of cosmetics stores are still around.

They have apparently switched to online commerce.

Song Ka-young / Namyangju resident
I mostly shop online. It's cheaper.

Sung Shi-jin / Runs store in Ewha Womans Univ. area
I thought things would get better after the pandemic, but they have become even worse.

It's impossible to compare the sales. They are almost zero.

Unable to endure the downturn, most of the empty stores are being remodeled into studio apartments for residential use.

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