Image: The Beggar Map screencap. Credit: Choi Seong-su.
The stock market may be setting new records every day, but on the ground, consumers are feeling the rising costs of food. In March, 34-year-old Choi Seong-su 최성수 unveiled “the Beggar Map 거지맵,” an app that shows restaurants with bottom of the barrel prices. In a city where even a simple lunch usually costs no less than KRW 10k (USD 6.60), the Beggar Map shows restaurants that offer lunch for as low as KRW 3k (USD 2).
Choi, a high school graduate programmer, developed the app after being laid off and living on a daily food budget of no more than KRW 12k (USD 8). After scouring Seoul in search of very cheap restaurants, Choi turned the data he collected into an app. In its first month, the Beggar Map gained 1.3m users.
South Korea’s youth unemployment in Q1 2026 was 7.4%, the highest since 2021. The popularity of Choi’s map hints at the squeeze felt by the younger generation, who face steadily increasing food costs.
