Although mandatory closure and business hour restriction policies on large supermarkets were implemented with the intention of reviving traditional markets, their market share has actually declined, while the share of online retailers has surged, data showed.
According to the "Trends in Major Distribution Industry Sales for the First Half and June of 2026" recently released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, sales at large supermarkets in the first half of this year decreased by 7.3% compared to the same period last year.
The proportion of large supermarket sales in total retail sales also dropped by 1.8 percentage points, from 10.3% in the first half of last year to 8.5% in the first half of this year.
The share of large supermarket sales among retailers, which reached 22.1% in the first half of 2018 alone, plummeted by 13.6 percentage points over eight years.
This is attributed to the impact of policies such as mandatory closures and business hour restrictions, but the problem is that the market share of traditional markets has also fallen alongside them.
According to data from the Korea Data Agency, the market share of "specialized retail stores," which includes traditional markets and neighborhood commercial districts, dropped significantly from 53.3% in 2012 to 36.0% in 2024.
In contrast, online retail's market share surged from 10.4% to 26.7% over the same period.
This effectively solidifies a structure where consumers turn to online delivery platforms instead of traditional markets on days when large supermarkets are closed.
As critics point out that regulations on large supermarkets spanning over a decade are out of step with the times, discussions in the National Assembly and political circles to ease mandatory closures and business hour restrictions on large supermarkets are gaining momentum once again.
With bills submitted to the National Assembly to permit early morning delivery for large supermarkets and overhaul regulations on mandatory closures and late-night operations, voices are growing that the retail environment—which has changed significantly since the introduction of the regulations—must be reflected.
Previously introduced in 2012 to protect traditional markets and neighborhood commercial districts, these regulations, centered on mandatory closures twice a month and business hour restrictions from midnight to 10:00 AM, have been in effect for 14 years.
(Reported by Lee Ho-geon | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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