South Korea’s cafe culture may look like a dream business from the outside, but celebrities who have experienced the industry firsthand are warning aspiring owners to think twice.
Singer Lee Hyori and rapper Hanhae recently opened up about the financial pressures and challenges of running cafes during an episode of JTBC’s Love War, offering a much less glamorous picture of the booming coffee industry.
Hanhae spoke particularly bluntly about his own experience. He previously operated a small cafe in Seoul’s Sangam-dong that sold yogurt and coffee. While the concept may have appeared promising, he found himself struggling against low-cost coffee franchises, including a nearby chain selling coffee for around 900 won.
What looked like a romantic business from the outside quickly became a financial burden.
Hanhae said he operated the cafe for about two years, but described only the first six months as genuinely running the business. For the remaining year and a half, he said he was essentially trying to keep it afloat.
He estimated that his losses reached between 150 million won and 200 million won, underscoring how quickly expenses can overwhelm a small cafe business.
Lee Hyori offered another striking example involving her husband, musician Lee Sang-soon, whose Jeju cafe became a major attraction after opening in 2022.
The cafe drew enormous crowds, with reports of lines stretching hundreds of meters. The surge in visitors became so intense that operations eventually shifted to a reservation system.
Yet according to Lee Hyori, the huge crowds did not translate into the kind of profits people might expect.
She said that despite the long lines and overwhelming attention, the cafe did not generate as much money as its popularity suggested, describing the cafe business as risky.
Lee Sang-soon’s cafe ultimately closed in May 2024 after nearly two years. He later explained that the closure was connected to the end of the lease and the landlord’s plans for the property, rather than simply being a result of poor business.
The experiences of Lee Hyori, Lee Sang-soon and Hanhae highlight a broader lesson about Korea’s highly competitive cafe market: popularity, long queues and celebrity status do not automatically guarantee profitability.
For aspiring cafe owners, the biggest challenges can extend far beyond attracting customers. Rent, staffing, ingredient costs, pricing pressure and competition from large coffee chains can determine whether a popular cafe actually makes money.
In an industry where Korea’s streets can appear packed with coffee shops, the celebrity warnings offer a reality check: a cafe may look full from the customer’s side of the counter while the business remains under intense financial pressure behind the scenes.
WWC ONE MEDIA G,A
