"Chuseok Table Costs Drop for First Time in 9 Years"... What Is the Real Impact Felt by Consumers?

[Anchor]

Wednesday's Friendly Economy is with economic reporter Kim Hye-min. Kim, the Chuseok holiday starts tomorrow, the 24th. I understand that the estimated cost of preparing a Chuseok ritual table varies significantly depending on the survey period?

[Reporter]

These types of reports always come out right before the holidays.

This Chuseok as well, about three or four organizations released data on how much it costs to set up a ritual table.

Even though they are all based on the same four-member household, there is about a twofold difference, ranging from a minimum of around 190,000 won to a maximum of 390,000 won.

Naturally, consumers end up confused about which information is correct.

The biggest reason for such a price gap is the "scale" of the ritual table.

In fact, the dishes placed on ritual tables have decreased a lot compared to the past.

As a result, some organizations have been calculating costs based on simplified tables for the past few years.

Moreover, the essential items considered "must-haves" on a ritual table vary by organization.

Even for the exact same items, the quantities differ.

For instance, while one place might calculate prices based on 3 pears, another sets the cost based on 5, which causes a wide gap in prices.

Korea Price Information and other entities that still base their prices on traditional ritual tables explained that they are considering modifying these standards next year to reflect recent trends.

[Anchor]

The cost of setting up a ritual table has dropped for the first time in 9 years. This was announced by the government, but I heard that what people actually feel on the ground might be a bit different?

[Reporter]

The Ministry of Economy and Finance unusually issued what is called a press reference material.

Looking at its contents, it stated, "This year's Chuseok ritual table costs have dropped for the first time in 9 years. This is due to government policies."

You probably have seen phrases like "Nonghwal" (agricultural discount) and "Korea Fisheries Grand Sale" while shopping at supermarkets or online.

While these discounts exist even during regular times, they are being applied intensively right now ahead of Chuseok.

In fact, the government poured nearly 200 billion won into budgets for this Chuseok, which is more than double the amount compared to last year.

On top of this, with distribution companies adding their own discounts, it turned out that setting up a ritual table cost up to 7% less than last year.

However, the data used by the government as a standard is based on amounts that already include all these discounts.

There are also organizations that released data excluding discounts.

According to them, prices for table settings at both traditional markets and large supermarkets have risen compared to last year.

So, while it is true that it cost less to set up a ritual table than last year if you only purchased discounted products, there are also products that were not discounted.

In these cases, it is difficult to say that consumers actually felt a drop in prices.

Furthermore, critics point out that this drop in prices is only a temporary effect.

Let us look at this year's consumer inflation rate.

It started at 2% early this year, but rose to over 3% in June due to the war between the United States and Iran.

In response, the government unveiled a 1 trillion won price stabilization package in July.

It briefly seemed to drop to 2.8%, but the very next month after the measures ended, it bounced right back up to 3%.

This is why concerns are being raised that food ingredient prices will rise back to previous levels even after the holidays pass.

[Anchor]

These days, however, there are actually many households that do not set up a ritual table at all, right?

[Reporter]

We looked at households divided into two groups: those who will not hold ancestral rites at all, and those who will.

Only 3 out of 10 places said they would hold them.

A research institute asked 1,000 consumers whether they plan to set up a ritual table for this Chuseok.

Only 27.3% of households said they would set up a ritual table.

Last year, the figure was still around 40%.

It has dropped by more than 10 percentage points in just one year.

During a survey 10 years ago, more than 74% answered that they set up ritual tables.

An increasing number of generations now view the cost and effort required to prepare a ritual table as wasteful.

Even among those who plan to hold ancestral rites, they are cutting down on the time and money spent preparing food.

More than half of the respondents answered that they would simplify the food.

Only 20% of households reported preparing according to traditional etiquette.

For expected spending on Chuseok holiday food and ingredients, more than 55% were in the 200,000 won range or less.

With ancestral rites being skipped, only about half of the people visit their parental or extended family homes.

The rest mostly answered that they simply rest or go traveling.

In particular, about 1 in 3 people said they would stay home and enjoy leisure activities.

In the past, Seoul's roads used to become deserted as everyone headed down to their hometowns for the holidays.

Now, even that has become a thing of the past.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.