A Flat New Year for Seoul Pancake Houses as Coronavirus Curbs Hit Festivities
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On Lunar New Year holidays, Lee Soon-ai s pancake house in Seoul is usually packed with customers while others queue outside.
This year, however, the pancake alley where she and a number of competitors run their businesses is eerily quiet.
Pancakes are a key component of the family dinners that traditionally mark new year celebrations across South Korea.
But coronavirus curbs due to run until the end of the holiday include a ban on private gatherings of more than four people and on restaurant dining in the capital after 9 p.m. - and Lee s takings are sharply down as a result.
On Lunar New Year holidays, Lee Soon-ai's pancake house in Seoul is usually packed with customers while others queue outside. This year, however, the "pancake alley" where she and a number of competitors run their businesses was eerily quiet on Thursday (February 11).