Walk into nearly any cafe in South Korea and you’ll discover a acquainted sight: enterprise companions planning their subsequent pitch, mates reconnecting, dates — and cagongjok, a Korean time period that actually interprets to “the tribe of people who study in cafes.” But in Korea, many cafes transcend the practical, utilizing artistic design to reinforce these “third spaces,” providing an escape from the lengthy working hours and the aggressive schooling system that underpins Korea’s high-pressure grind tradition.
What began as comfort, a spot to seize a latte or an Americano —Koreans’ most well-liked espresso beverage — has developed into one thing nearer to a cultural outing. For Koreans, cafes are “multifunctional hubs,” says Jihyu Kim, 34, co-CEO of Seven Island Coffee, a restaurant and cultural area in Busan. Modern cafe tradition is now “considered the same as going to a museum or the movie theater,” she says.
South Korea has a time period — “gamseong” — defining the feelings evoked by aesthetically pleasing locations. That sensibility has helped gasoline a uniquely Korean phenomenon: the gamseong cafe. Here, the precedence isn’t solely the right cup of espresso, however the area itself. From exterior architecture to inside design, lighting, and the temper a buyer feels, every little thing is deliberate — creating an environment that’s not solely visually interesting and “Instagrammable,” however emotionally stimulating, too.
In a hyper-competitive trade, cafes should differentiate, and that strain shapes every little thing from menus to architecture.
One phrase utilized in Korea lately, particularly amongst MZ (a Korean time period combining Millennials and Gen Z), is “chugumi,” to convey “the image, lifestyle and fashion that one pursues and desires,” says Heesu Jeon, 41, CEO of architecture agency A.Live and lead architect behind the 2025 iF Design Award-winning OUTPOST — a minimalist, stone-walled cafe constructing that’s a part of the bigger Stonery trip advanced on Ganghwa Island.
Okay-cafes more and more promote prospects an opportunity to step into a life-style — even when just for an hour. Jeon says, “If the lifestyle someone wants is the Danish ‘hygge’ (coziness) style, then they go to a cafe with that kind of interior because they want to experience the lifestyle there vicariously. That is chugumi.”
The logic is much like how Okay-pop turned a world export by constructing an expertise larger than the music alone. “K-pop has gone beyond just the music — it combines performance and fashion to enhance the experience,” says Kim. “Similarly in Korea, cafes are more than just coffee. They combine architecture and (the owners’) brand storytelling.”
The want to face out has produced two broad tracks: metropolis cafes that compete by means of idea and staging, and suburban cafes that compete by means of area, surroundings and a way of escape.
City cafes typically work inside small footprints. When area should be sacrificed, house owners make up for it with intentional design and quick-hit novelty, like Rain Report in Seoul’s Yongsan District, a rain-themed cafe that caters to prospects who like the sensation of sipping espresso on a wet day — on daily basis. “They can’t really do nature and healing (in the limited space), so the focus is more on being fun and providing immediate new stimulation …triggering dopamine,” says Jeon.
Suburban cafes weave pure parts into their design, creating areas “focused heavily on healing and recharging in a space with nature,” says Jeon. “The best interior is nature … Because the view you see is different in each of the four seasons, the reason people come is actually created by (nature).”
OUTPOST is an effective instance. Jeon mentioned it was the primary cafe the place her agency conceptualized each the outside and inside, permitting them to “orchestrate the visitor’s journey and the scenarios they experience” — from what folks see as they stroll by means of the area to the place the “wow” factors seem. OUTPOST attracts inspiration from “dondae,” historic, army fortresses or watchtowers from the Joseon dynasty.
“While the dondae was once a place of “great tension,” says Jeon, it was reimagined as a spot of peacefulness: “It’s so beautiful. The emotions have changed with the passage of time. Now you look down at nature over the low wall of the cafe, and there’s a peacefulness the boundary provides.”
Suburban cafes additionally match Korea’s car-centric tradition, the place many shoppers deal with a restaurant go to as a mini street journey, and typically make a degree of stopping off at cafes on longer journeys. A visit to an outskirt cafe can really feel like “a little journey and day trip,” says Kim of Seven Island Coffee.
Kim sees a broader transfer in cafe tradition towards what she calls emotional worth. “In modern society we have emotional capital (gamseong ja-bon) and the experience economy (gyeong-heom gyeong-je),” she says. “In the past, money and technology was capital. However, as time goes by, things that move us or touch our minds are much more valued.”
That helps clarify why, even when espresso costs in Korea might be greater than in different nations, prospects hold coming. Koreans, Kim says, “are willing to pay for it if they are satisfied with the experience and emotional satisfaction.”
At Seven Island Coffee — which was named one of many World’s Most Beautiful Restaurants by the 2025 Prix Versailles — she says prospects are paying for the total arc of the go to, “from when they come to when they leave.”
Perched on the cliffs of Gadeokdo Island off the southern coast of Busan, Seven Island Coffee attracts inspiration from the encompassing islands. Its exterior buildings face totally different islands so patrons expertise shifting views as they transfer by means of the area. Inside, the primary flooring is ready in darkish tones to imitate the ocean flooring, transitioning upward right into a lighter flooring designed to characterize the island itself. Seats are saved decrease than common to keep away from blocking the surroundings, and synthetic mild is minimized to protect as a lot “pure nature” as doable.
The design decisions, explains Kim, are meant to respect the panorama — and ship the enjoyable, “healing” expertise many shoppers search.
South Korea is typically described regionally as a “kafe-republic,” Kim says — it’s a nod to each the dimensions of the trade and the depth of competitors.
A brand new cafe can open to excessive acclaim and be forgotten inside two or three months when one other “Instagrammable” area seems. “This culture helps keep quality high, but it’s also hard to sustain,” Kim provides.
Jeon sees the identical dynamic. “The design of Korean cafes is directly linked to survival,” she says. “Everyone feels it’s a part that cannot be overlooked. The quality comes out because the café owners are making the investment.”
For architects and cafe house owners alike, the way forward for Korean cafe tradition could also be outlined by the identical forces that formed its rise: competitors, re-invention, and the seek for new types of expertise.
Jeon expects metropolis cafes to sharpen their “owned differentiation points,” leaning into what they do finest. “If an owner makes coffee beans with real confidence, they create a café interior that makes their coffee beans stand out the most,” she says.
Kim believes suburban cafes will seemingly hold pushing into experiences that metropolis cafes can’t replicate — together with cultural programming. “In the future, customers want cultural spaces, for example art exhibitions within the coffee shop,” says Kim. “In fact, that’s something we’ve already started to do (at Seven Island Coffee) — cultural collaborations with other businesses.”
Jeon shares this sentiment and expects the out-of-town cafe journey to turn out to be even more theatrical. “(Suburban cafes) will move toward delivering more dramatic experiences in a stronger, more stimulating and impactful way.”
In South Korea’s “kafe-republic,” the following hit cafe should serve a wonderful Americano. But what prospects are more and more shopping for is gamseong: an artfully crafted, designed feeling alongside each cup.