{
  "id": 6333212,
  "title": "Soaring dining costs, wellness culture are reshaping lunch in Korea",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/soaring-dining-costs-wellness-culture-are-reshaping-lunch-in-korea",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-08T22:02:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/society/20260909/soaring-dining-costs-wellness-culture-are-reshaping-lunch-in-korea"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Seoul, office worker Lee, 43, has started bringing her own lunches to work as dining out for lunch has become too expensive. A typical lunch with an afternoon coffee regularly costs over 20,000 won ($15), significantly impacting her monthly budget. Finding affordable yet quality eateries daily is challenging, Lee explained. The price of a standard bowl of pork and rice soup, once around 8,000 won, has now risen to nearly 15,000 won. Additionally, Lee found the heavy, salty food at restaurants unappealing.\n\nThis trend of opting out of dining out is widespread among Seoul's white-collar workers, driven by two main factors: escalating restaurant prices and a heightened emphasis on health and wellness. The demand for lunch boxes has increased, as evidenced by the surge in online searches. According to 29CM, a fashion platform under Musinsa, searches for insulated cooler bags surged by 656 percent year-over-year in August. Similarly, searches for \"lunchbox cutlery sets\" and \"thermal lunchboxes\" also saw a significant uptick during the same period.",
  "summary": "An office worker in Seoul surnamed Lee, 43, started packing her own lunches a month ago, as eating out for lunch had become an unsustainable financial burden. A basic lunch paired with an afternoon coffee routinely cost more than 20,000 won ($15), quietly eating into her monthly budget. “Tracking down quality, low-cost eateries every single day is not easy,” Lee said. “A standard bowl of pork and…",
  "key_points": [
    "Seoul office workers increasingly bring homemade lunches due to soaring dining costs.",
    "Average lunch with coffee now over 20,000 won ($15), straining budgets.",
    "Demand for lunch boxes surges 656% year-over-year in August."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Soaring dining costs, wellness culture are reshaping lunch in Korea",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/soaring-dining-costs-wellness-culture-are-reshaping-lunch-in-korea-6335067",
        "published": "2026-09-08T22:07:02.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}