Why is Korea so obsessed with coffee?

Korea is home to one of the largest, most vibrant, trendsetting and quality-focused coffee shop markets in the world, behind the East Asian nation’s caffeinated obsession and how long can operators sustain stratospheric growth? By Tobias Pearce 

Few nations on Earth can claim to have embraced coffee and café culture as enthusiastically as Korea. Government data shows there were more than 100,000 coffee shops across the East Asian nation at the end of 2023, collectively generating a whopping ₩15.5trn ($11.2bn) in sales and employing some 270,000 workers.