Restaurant Boom Bodes Ill for Korea Economy

Article Excerpt

BY ALEX FRANGOS AND KWANWOO JUN
SEOUL—Korean fried chicken—crunchy, tasty and usually served with pitchers of cold beer—has become a culinary phenomenon far beyond the country’s shores. But at home, it is a source of worry for the struggling economy.
In neighborhood after neighborhood, South Korean cities are crowded with greasy fried chicken joints started by families who used their homes as collateral for loans. Chicken-fueled credit is part of a broader swelling of the nation’s household debt to levels approaching those in the U.S. before the housing bust.
“If anyone would start doing this business, I would stop him by all means,” says Kang Hyo-seon, …
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