

By Park Jae-hyuk

Sitting cross-legged on the floor to eat at a restaurant could be torture for foreigners.

What about Koreans? It's also uncomfortable ― they want to avoid it if they can.

However, many Korean restaurants still lack chairs and customers have to eat sitting on the floor, although the long-held custom is slowly disappearing.

Even for expatriates who have lived a long time here, sitting on the floor is one of the most challenging things.

"I did it once to try the experience, but since then, I've avoided those kinds of restaurants unless I'm forced to go by a Korean professor or somebody like that," said Curtis Life from Canada who has lived in Korea for two years. "While I do recommend that every foreigner try it at least once, I didn't enjoy the experience overall because it was physically uncomfortable for me. I am more comfortable sitting on a chair and I want to feel relaxed when I'm eating with company."

Sian Winstanley, an English-Malaysian who has lived in Korea for seven years, said, "Sometimes, I really feel like eating some real Korean food, like sundae-gukbab (Korean sausage and rice soup) or bossam (boiled pork). I know that these types of restaurants rarely have chairs and I want to enjoy a good time with my Korean friends, so I just bear it. If I'm alone, I never go to those types of restaurants."

Only those foreigners whose countries have a similar custom did not mind sitting on the floor.

"It's okay for me, because there are similar restaurants in Vietnam, too," said Vuong Lan from Vietnam, who has visited Korea twice.

In the past, Koreans preferred the traditional style unlike foreigners, saying the custom was comfortable.

However, more Koreans, regardless of their age, say that these days they prefer sitting on a chair when eating.

Young Koreans complain about restaurants that have no chairs.

"It is really inconvenient as I cannot sit cross-legged, wearing a tight skirt," a college student Kim Ye-li, 22, said.

An office worker Kim Min-ju, 26, said, "I am afraid of my foot odor, when I take off my shoes that I have been wearing for the whole day."

Seniors and middle-aged Koreans say they are used to the old style but are changing their preferences for their health.

"I was used to sitting on the floor when I was younger, but since my legs have become weak, I prefer a chair in which I can sit comfortably and am able to get up from to stand," said Yoo Suk-hee, 56.

People who use wheelchairs demanded changes in restaurants as well.

"It is difficult to cross the threshold in a wheelchair," said the Korea Differently Abled Federation official Park Jae-young. "Disabled people would have to crawl on the floor unless other people are there to help them."

Some restaurants have changed their styles according to the recent trend. A female member of the wait staff at a restaurant which switched to chairs last year said it is more convenient to serve the customers.

"I do not have to take off my shoes to serve them. Also, customers like sitting in chairs when they eat," she said.

Several local governments in Korea support restaurants changing to chairs and tables.

PyeongChang, the host of 2018 Winter Olympics, has subsidized restaurants to switch to chairs. Gwangju and Daegu also subsidized traditional style restaurants that change to chairs.

However, the number of subsidized restaurants is still low. Only six restaurants will be subsidized this year in PyeongChang.

A business expert said the cost is almost similar whether to open a traditional style or a modern style restaurant.

"As traditional style restaurants should install ondol, the cost of starting their businesses is not less expensive," business consultant Kim Sang-hoon said. "There were many traditional style restaurants, because of customers' preferences. But the trend is changing because of foreigners and young people,"

However, Kim also said the traditional style will survive as some customers still demand it.

Mothers having babies said they prefer the traditional style, because they can lay their babies on the floor.

"I always ate at traditional style restaurants, when my child was young," said Kim Seon-mi, 41.

Seoul National University professor, Song Ki-ho, who has studied Korean lifestyle history, said, "Although modern Koreans are living on the couch, bed, and chair, traditional style restaurants in Korea will survive for a while as most Koreans still enjoy sitting or lying on an ondol heated floor at home."