![Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate makes a campaign stop at the former City Hall Square in Gunsan, North Jeolla on May 16. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/18/459c69ce-0c88-4488-9b7a-cd9aed9e45d3.jpg)
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate makes a campaign stop at the former City Hall Square in Gunsan, North Jeolla on May 16. [NEWS1]
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, is under fire for his recent comments which infuriated many coffee-related business owners in the country with a fast-developing cafe culture.
During a campaign stop at the former City Hall Square in Gunsan, North Jeolla, Lee said that “the prime cost of making a cup of coffee is 120 won ($0.09), while the selling price ranges from 8,000 to 10,000 won.”
The comment was made to highlight his past experience as Gyeonggi governor in regulating illegal businesses along mountain streams.
“For decades, no one could stop people who monopolized scenic valleys by setting up makeshift platforms and charging fees,” he said. “They (illegally) made millions of won each summer thinking they’d just pay the fine, which was only 300,000 won.”
Lee explained how his administration had persuaded, rather than using force to eradicate illegal local merchants, to switch their businesses from selling overpriced food items to operating legal cafes.
Lee said that he had encouraged merchants to sell drinks like coffee, which costs very little to produce but can be sold at a huge markup, rather than offering labor-intensive food items for which they would overcharge customers.
This comment triggered backlash, particularly among small business owners and cafe operators, who criticized Lee for oversimplifying the cost of running a coffee business.
“If coffee costs only 120 won for a cup of coffee, then every cafe owner should be a billionaire,” a cafe owner who requested anonymity said. “The prime cost of coffee should be calculated by adding the cost of the coffee beans, supplies, rent, labor costs and so on.”
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) also accused Lee of disrespecting small business owners.
“To boast about his achievements, he portrays small business owners as greedy profiteers. He must apologize immediately,” Shin Dong-wook, PPP spokesperson said.
![Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate makes a campaign stop at the former City Hall Square in Gunsan, North Jeolla on May 16. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/18/f39f4726-2210-4985-aa68-863721765044.jpg)
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate makes a campaign stop at the former City Hall Square in Gunsan, North Jeolla on May 16. [NEWS1]
Former People Power Party lawmaker Han Dong-hoon joined the criticism, mocking Lee’s claim. “If coffee costs only 120 won, then everyone in Korea should open a cafe, and even Warren Buffett would want to open one here,” Han wrote on Facebook.
Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok also criticized Lee’s comment, saying it was a “thoughtless remark” that disrespected struggling small business owners.
“Lee casually said something that can bring tears to the eyes of small business owners who are barely making ends meet,” Lee Jun-seok wrote on his Facebook page. “I wonder where he got his information that a cup of coffee costs only 120 won.”
BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]
