Consumer sentiment is "Kkongkong" due to martial law shock...Worst since COVID-19

[Anchor]
It turns out that our consumers' consumer sentiment has been sharply frozen due to the emergency martial law shock.

The "Consumer Sentiment Index," a measure of consumer sentiment on economic conditions, was the worst since March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reporter Ryu Hwan-hong reports.

[Reporter]
Although the emergency martial law was lifted in six hours, surprised citizens were busy canceling company dinners and travel schedules scheduled at the end of the year, which led to damage to self-employed people.

[Restaurant employee in Yeouido-dong, Seoul (last 12th): Reservations are booked in December due to rental reservations, but since martial law, reservations for 40 to 50 people have been canceled, so business is very difficult right now.]

[Kim Dal-soon / Restaurant owner: But we do business after Christmas and the end of the year. But this year, it was cut off because of martial law. You can think of it as a total deficit this year. It's a total deficit....]

The Bank of Korea surveyed 2,500 households in cities across the country for eight days from the 10th, a week after the emergency decree, to the 17th, after the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol was passed, and consumer sentiment was severely weak.

The "Consumer Sentiment Index," a comprehensive measure of consumer sentiment on economic conditions, was tallied at 88.4, down 12.3p from November, the largest since a 18.3p drop in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As travel costs, dining out costs, and consumption of durable goods fell, all six individual indices that make up the "Consumer Sentiment Index," such as the Consumer Expenditure Outlook and Consumer Trend Index, fell.

The central bank stressed that consumer sentiment has plummeted following political uncertainty and that tangible measures are urgently needed to give confidence to markets and consumers.

[Lee Jong-ryul / Deputy Governor of the Bank of Korea: Although we are a little more worried about the prolonged political uncertainty, I think it will be very important to give confidence that the financial and economic policies are carried out smoothly and that the economic system works independently and normally]

The Bank of Korea said the martial law shock was large, but in the past, the impact of political uncertainty on the economy was short-term and limited, and the financial market remained healthy in terms of net foreign financing and foreign exchange reserves.

I'm YTN's Ryu Hwan Hong.

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