In recent years, millennials and Generation Z in Korea (MZ Generation) have been hooked on café culture. It is not hard to find young people in bustling cafés enjoying their beverages while studying, chatting, and spending time with friends. However, this trend has also created a phenomenon where people spend excessive hours lounging in cafés, colloquially nicknamed kagong-jok. Coffee shop owners have expressed their discontent with these people who overstay their welcome. In many cases, spending far too much time in a café can negatively impact the shop’s business as a customer can only consume limited amounts of drinks and food, and hoarding a seat for the whole day prevents new customers; it is inevitably not good for the shop owner’s business. However, at the end of the day, would paying for a cup of coffee not give the customer the right to spend time in their favorite cafés?

Just like how cafés on campus are often full of students, cafés on the street also attract many customers during the day. Regardless of whether it is for-here or to-go, Korean coffee lovers can enjoy their favorite drink at the nearest coffee shop. On a hot summer day or busy exam week, students can find themselves at a café trying to get ahead on their week’s work. As a country that boosts so much of its coffee sales with experimental flavors, tons of coffee shops around the corners of each street, and a devoted studious culture that has a special addiction to caffeine, the existence of kagong-jok cannot be separated from Korea.

The fact that cafés are the preferred locations for study spots does not help. According to an article written by the MBN News, in a survey of college students conducted on a job portal site, 42.5 percent of the respondents chose cafés when asked about their preferred place to study. The reason given for such a choice was was the presence of white noise in cafés, which helps them concentrate better, as well as how it has a better environment compared to school facilities and libraries. All of these factors make it attractive for students, turning them into kagong-joks in the long run.

Additionally, it is hard for the coffee shop owners to monitor kagong-joks. Since kagong-joks spend most of their time studying, the customer table turnover rate is reduced steeply. This decline in rate leads to a fall in sales, which means a loss in total revenue for the owners. Therefore, some coffee shops rely on putting restrictions on customer accessibility. There is a restriction on how much time one can stay after ordering something. However, these rules are not the most effective in improving their sales as the menu at cafés ranges in price. It is unfair that a person who pays 20,000 Korean Won (KRW) for a hall cake can stay as long as someone who just orders a 3,000 KRW Americano.

To solve the given issue, we must focus on the bigger picture than just limiting customers from their café time. Since cafés’ profits rely heavily on selling beverages and kagong-joks directly affect sales, one possible solution would be to promote take-out culture, which can increase take-out rates in the long run. If the purchases are done in a quick manner, this can maximize profit. Another approach we can take as students would be to be more sensitive to the Korean nunchi culture, putting the needs of the owners and other customers into consideration once we realize that we overstayed our welcome at our favorite coffee shop.