Cagongjok: South Korea's Cafe Study Culture Tests the Limits of Hospitality

One Coffee, Hours at a Table

A coffee priced at 4,100 won, about $3, covers roughly one hour and 31 minutes of seat time before it becomes unprofitable for a cafe, according to the Korea Food Service Industry Research Institute. That calculation sits at the center of a national debate in South Korea, where customers sometimes spend an entire day studying or working with little more than a single drink.

In Seoul's affluent Daechi neighborhood, cafe owner Hyun Sung-joo faces that dilemma regularly. His shop, like thousands of others across the country, welcomes people looking for somewhere to concentrate. Keeping those customers comfortable while leaving room for others has become a difficult balance.

The customers are known as Cagongjok, a term combining the Korean words for cafe, ca, study, gongbu, and tribe, jok. Mostly students and young professionals, they turn coffee shops into makeshift study halls and offices. Some settle in with a laptop and books. Others bring printers, desktop monitors, extension cords and power strips, occupying tables intended for four people.

South Korea's cafe boom has given this habit room to grow. The country went from about 51,500 coffee shops in 2015 to more than 100,000 by 2024. Those businesses serve a demand for coffee, but also for somewhere outside the home to study, work and socialize.

For owners, the question is how much space and time one purchase can reasonably buy. For young customers, it is where they can find a comfortable place to prepare for exams, search for jobs or work. By August 23, 2025, the debate had drawn in independent businesses, major chains and customers with very different expectations of what a cafe should provide.

How Cafes Became Study Halls

Cagongjok translates directly as the cafe study tribe. The term describes people who spend hours, and sometimes a whole day, doing individual tasks in cafes. South Korean coffee shops have become informal libraries and shared workplaces, extending beyond the image of a cafe as somewhere for a quick drink or conversation.

Seoul's Gangnam and Daechi districts, where students and office workers are concentrated, are particularly associated with the practice. Tables can fill with textbooks, laptops and equipment, while power outlets become part of a customer's choice of seat.

A 2021 survey found that 29% of respondents had carried out solitary tasks in cafes during the previous year. Among people in their 20s, 60% had participated in the Cagongjok experience. A more recent poll found that 70% of Gen Z job seekers studied in cafes at least once a week.

Those figures describe different groups and activities: the 2021 survey covered solitary tasks, while the later poll focused on regular cafe study among Gen Z job seekers. Together, they show how coffee shops serve people pursuing education and employment as well as those seeking refreshments.

For some customers, the appeal is practical. A cafe offers Wi-Fi, electricity, refreshments and a comfortable temperature in one place. For others, being around people makes a long period of concentration feel less lonely.

Why Students and Workers Seek Space Outside Home

South Korea's competitive education system puts students under pressure to succeed at school, pass university entrance examinations and secure good jobs. A home that is distracting or cramped can make preparation harder, encouraging people to find another place to work.

Urban housing often provides limited room for quiet study. Small apartments and shared homes can leave young people without a space where they can concentrate comfortably. Public libraries and study rooms offer alternatives, but they can be crowded or have restricted opening hours.

Cafes fill that gap with accessible seating and the equipment needed for many everyday tasks. For people living alone, they also offer company without requiring conversation. One graduate student described how studying among other customers provided both privacy and a sense of connection:

In the presence of others, I can create my own enclosed space for studying, but I don't feel alone.

The attraction is a combination of solitude and social atmosphere. A student can focus on a book while remaining part of a shared room. For some people, background noise and the presence of others help concentration and creativity rather than interrupting them.

A Coffee Boom With Tight Business Margins

South Korea's enthusiasm for coffee rivals that of traditional cafe cultures such as Italy and France. Its increase from about 51,500 shops in 2015 to more than 100,000 in 2024 means the number of coffee shops nearly doubled over that period.

Starbucks has expanded to more than 2,000 outlets nationwide, making South Korea its third largest market after the United States and China. Major chains have benefited from customers seeking places to work and study, helping make cafes a fixture of daily life for students and young professionals.

The key dates show how the market and the debate developed:

• 2015: South Korea had about 51,500 coffee shops.
• 2021: A survey found that 29% of respondents had done solitary tasks in cafes during the previous year, rising to 60% among people in their 20s.
• 2024: The coffee shop count exceeded 100,000, and Starbucks Korea announced nationwide guidelines restricting bulky office equipment.
• August 23, 2025: The debate centered on balancing access for customers with the costs and shared space of running a cafe.

Cafe owners pay rent, utility bills and other expenses even when a customer buys nothing more after an initial drink. High rents, rising utility costs and thin profit margins make customer turnover important. Turnover means a table becomes available for another customer who can make a purchase.

The institute's calculation of one hour and 31 minutes for a 4,100 won coffee puts a figure on that tension. A customer may value a seat as a place to spend the day, while the owner needs that same seat to generate enough sales to cover the business's costs.

A table occupied by one person and their equipment can also leave several other customers without somewhere to sit. In expensive locations, the combination of limited seating and long stays makes the economics especially difficult.

What Starbucks Korea Changed

Starbucks Korea responded in 2024 with nationwide guidelines aimed at the most disruptive uses of its stores. Notices posted in every branch banned desktop computers, printers, large power strips and desk partitions.

The company also asked customers to take their belongings when leaving for long periods and to make room for other people at shared tables. Those requests addressed both equipment taking up space and seats being held while their users were elsewhere.

A Starbucks Korea spokesperson explained that the changes were intended to keep stores pleasant and accessible for all customers:

Starbucks Korea has updated its policy so all customers can have a pleasant and accessible store experience. While laptops and smaller personal devices are welcome, customers are asked to refrain from bringing desktop computers, printers, or other bulky items that may limit seating and impact the shared space.

Laptops, smaller personal devices and ordinary study sessions remained welcome. Starbucks Korea's policy imposed no time limit on customers. Its restrictions focused on people turning cafe tables into extensive office setups and reducing the space available to everyone else.

Photos circulating on Korean social media showed printers perched on chairs and partitions converting tables into private booths. Those images helped bring the issue to wider public attention because they made the use of shared seating visible.

Customers Disagree About Where to Draw the Line

Many customers welcomed Starbucks Korea's decision as a way to make it easier to find a seat, relax or talk with friends. Others regarded it as an overreach, arguing that cafes should remain flexible places for work and study when alternatives are limited.

One Korean social media user supported the move and urged other businesses to adopt similar rules:

Good job. Now that Starbucks has started, other cafes should follow suit.

Another social media user described avoiding the chain because of customers working in its stores and presented the announcement as a response to poor manners:

People working from cafes made me stop going to Starbucks. The announcement is a measure against those who've crossed the line with their bad manners.

Some Cagongjok defend their habits by pointing to the comfort, safety and productivity they find in cafes. For people in small apartments or shared housing, a cafe can be their only viable place for sustained study or work.

Owners frustrated by long stays and minimal purchases have sometimes called customers "electricity thieves." The phrase reflects anger over the use of power and seating, while the customer response centers on the need for an accessible place to concentrate.

Independent Owners Set Their Own Rules

Hyun Sung-joo's cafe in Daechi represents one approach: welcome considerate Cagongjok who make reasonable purchases while discouraging extreme cases. Independent cafes have adopted different policies according to their space, customers and financial pressures.

Some owners block power outlets, restrict Wi-Fi or introduce time limits. Others post "No Study Zone" signs or require customers to buy both a drink and a snack. Study restrictions may include a limit of two hours or a ban during busy periods.

The measures being used include:

• Covering or blocking power outlets to limit lengthy sessions using electronic equipment.
• Restricting Wi-Fi access.
• Setting study time limits, including limits of two hours.
• Stopping study during peak hours or designating areas where studying is prohibited.
• Requiring purchases of both a drink and a snack.

Other cafes actively cater to Cagongjok. They provide extended opening hours, plenty of power outlets and quiet surroundings intended for studying or working remotely. The same customer habit that creates difficulties for one business can be central to another's appeal.

Major chains have resources to introduce and enforce common policies across stores. Independent owners face a more individual calculation: stricter rules may free tables, but students and workers may also be an important part of their customer base.

The Pressure Behind the Habit

Professor Choi Ra-young of Ansan University connects Cagongjok with the competitive pressures facing young people and the limited availability of public study space. She also points to the comfort and community that customers find in cafes:

Cagongjok is a cultural phenomenon shaped by South Korea's competitive society and lack of public spaces for study. Young people are driven to cafes by academic and housing pressures, but also by a desire for comfort and community.

Academic competition, high youth unemployment and sharply rising housing costs form the wider setting for the debate. Young people trying to advance their education or employment prospects seek spaces that make those tasks manageable.

Cafes offer a sense of belonging and a break from daily stress alongside somewhere to pursue personal and professional goals. They can act as a third space, meaning a place outside home and work where people spend time and feel connected to others.

Remote work, flexible schedules and digital technology have also made it easier to complete tasks away from a fixed workplace. With reliable Wi-Fi and a welcoming atmosphere, cafes have become a default choice for many people doing that work.

The result is a meeting of different needs in the same room. One person seeks quiet concentration, another wants conversation, and the owner needs enough sales to keep the doors open.

Etiquette Becomes a Business Issue

Most Cagongjok are considerate, but the behavior of some customers creates friction with staff and other patrons. Leaving belongings unattended for long periods, taking several seats or monopolizing outlets can prevent other people from using a shared space.

For owners, addressing those habits can mean awkward confrontations. Some respond indirectly by covering outlets or posting signs rather than discussing each incident with a customer.

One cafe owner described the frustration of trying to welcome customers while meeting the business's expenses:

We want to welcome everyone, but we also need to pay the bills. It's not fair when someone occupies a seat all day for the price of one coffee.

Owners also object to being cast as villains for trying to keep their businesses operating. Hospitality and financial survival become difficult to separate when the service includes both a drink and prolonged access to a table, electricity and an indoor environment.

For other customers, considerate use of seating determines whether they can enter a cafe and find somewhere to sit. For students and workers, clear rules determine whether they can settle in without an uncomfortable dispute later.

Balancing Access, Seating and Sales

Suggestions raised in the debate include more public study spaces in libraries and community centers, clearer cafe etiquette, and layouts that separate studying from conversation. These remain proposals rather than a single agreed solution.

More public space would give students and job seekers alternatives to buying a drink for access to a table. Clear purchase requirements and reasonable time limits would tell customers what an individual cafe expects before they begin a long session.

Different areas for study, work and socializing could accommodate several uses within the same business. Such an approach would allow quiet activity and conversation to coexist where a cafe's layout permits it.

Mutual respect and communication are also central to the suggested responses. Owners need customers to understand the costs of keeping a cafe open. Customers need predictable rules and recognition of the practical reasons they seek space outside their homes.

South Korea's cafe debate reflects changes in work, study and urban life. Coffee shops provide comfort and community for a generation seeking room to concentrate, while their owners must manage finite tables and continuing bills. The choices being made range from welcoming study customers to limiting equipment, time or access to power.

Key Points

• Cagongjok are mainly students and young professionals who spend hours studying or working in cafes, sometimes buying only one coffee.
• South Korea's coffee shop count rose from about 51,500 in 2015 to more than 100,000 in 2024.
• The Korea Food Service Industry Research Institute calculated that a 4,100 won coffee covers about one hour and 31 minutes of seat time before becoming unprofitable.
• Starbucks Korea's 2024 guidelines banned bulky office equipment while continuing to welcome laptops and ordinary study sessions without time limits.
• Independent cafes use different approaches, including purchase requirements, time limits, restricted outlets and spaces designed for study.
• Academic pressure, limited housing space and crowded public study facilities help explain the demand for cafe seating.
• Proposed responses include more public study spaces, clearer etiquette and separate areas for studying and socializing.