Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mack the knife]

The people who run this country haven't 10 brain cells (or a set of cajones) among them.

Recently, mom and pop supermarket and outdoor market operators have been b**ching and moaning because the larger department stores such as Lotte, Emart, and Carrefour are causing their profits to fall, and some shops (gasp!) have had to close.

In the rest of the world, this is a concept known as evolution. The weak genes get cut out of the deal. Evolve or go extinct. That's the nature of this beast called "life". However, some people will always refuse to adapt/evolve. Instead, they complain. "Oh, life isn't fair! Woe is me!" Of course, these complaints should fall on deaf ears, because evolution cannot be thwarted. Hell, the dinosaurs couldn't beat it (or did they? They're birds now, right? But I digress).

So, the government of Korea has come up with a BRILLIANT plan. Instead of telling these shop owners where they can go and how fast, instead they have decided to PUNISH the large chain stores by forcing them (by a new law) to close at an earlier hour.

Now, let's do some math. At 11pm-12am, who the hell is buying ANYTHING. Let's see. The people at the large chain stores are buying groceries, large amounts of stuff they need for that MT, overpriced fish for their parents who hate fish, etc. The people who are shopping at mom and pop stores at 11-12 are buying........wait for it.........BOOZE. And/or cigarettes. That's it. That's the deal. So, by forcing the chain stores to close at an earlier time the govt. of Korea, in all it's wisdom is A) hurting consumers B) not helping mom and pop stores, who were never competing against the chain stores anyway (certainly not for the late night crowd).

The inanity of this new Korean law makes me seeth and burn inside just like the so called "blue laws" in America. There is simply NO JUSTIFICATION.

You can't stop evolution (insert expletive beginning with FUC and ending in KERS). And frankly, why try?

[Butterfly]

[mack the knife]

[Butterfly]

[billybrobby]

Wal-mart's angriest spokesman

[Thunndarr]

[mack the knife]

[dogbert]

I think his hobby was haunting E-mart at 3 a.m.

[lastat06513]

Mack~ I think you either....

1. Know about Korea alot

or...

2. Like Korea alot.

Because if someone knows enough about a certain place, they begin to find out about its flaws and misconceptions. I always feel that the more I live here, the more I know about Korea and so some of the things make me angry....

And the next one is something a person told me when I was in a "pissed-off-at-Korea" mood.
The more you like to live somewhere, the more you want to see it change for the better. And when you see it actually regress steadily, it makes you slowly but surely pissed beyond belief.

[SPINOZA]

Mack the Knife,

Whilst I appreciate your funny post, I feel you should have more sympathy with the K-open market owners. Folks have to make a living and sometimes "adapting" isn't easy - especially for folks who are fairly old. E-mart etc are multi-million $ corporations and it won't hurt them to show respect for small traders. I agree it'd be nice if Emart was 24/7 but perhaps occasionally the consumer must adapt. Not having everything we want catering to our every whim on tap 25/8 is something we must all learn to tolerate. Small traders are cool. In my country, they barely exist thanks to our equivalents of Emart, Lotto - Korea has the right balance and the balance ought to be preserved.

[Bulsajo]

[jaganath69]

[eamo]

I sympathise with Mack on the basis that, if those Mom and Pop stores want to have some advantage over the supermarkets, then please, sell something other than booze, cigarettes and chips!!!

They're so useless for groceries. I know they don't see that as their function but then they shouldn't biatch about the supermarkets cutting them out. People are going to the supermarkets to buy what you don't have. Food!!!

Ever tried to get something to eat in one of those shops??!! You had better be in the mood for chips or ramyeon.

[billybrobby]

I got a few problems with this post.

Is it really evolution when a huge coporation crushes small-time competition? You might regard this as being like when the an eagle snags a mouse from a field i.e. just part of the natural cycle. But many regard this as being like when a man chops down a forest and makes a parking lot. In other words, an entity with extraordinary power destroying natural diversity and replacing it with something that convenient but monotone, bland and dead.

Second, the reaction against these big sprawl-mart type stores is widespread. I know there were several communities in california that refused to let wal-mart set up shop in the community. they were willing to trade convenience for community. Of course, a lot of people made the whole "you can't stop evolution" argument.

now, i don't think making them close earlier is really the best way to do it, but i think it may be healthy to try to limit the power of some of these huge chains. perhaps lawmakers tried other ways to limit their power but the bills were defeated, so they passed this one. do you know? i just think you're incorrect in your judgement that this is obviously a stupid idea and everybody with any sense would agree with you.

[mack the knife]