- Local merchants furious as Yeongdo-gu Office heavily celebrates "3-year survival rate of 65%, ranking 1st in Busan"
- "We didn't stay open for 7 years because we were making a profit"… Self-employed individuals from other regions also blast "desk administration"
- Busan median monthly revenue at around 4.8 million KRW… An 'illusion' as top revenue areas like Haeundae and Gangseo are excluded
- "Survival of the fittest at a subsistence level except for large businesses"… 'Deferred closure' created by low rent

Busan's Yeongdo-gu has extensively promoted itself and celebrated after recording the highest '3-year cafe survival rate (65%)' in all of Busan, but this has drawn fierce criticism and cynicism from on-the-ground small business owners and netizens, particularly on social media. Structural criticisms have emerged that the high survival rate on paper is not actual business success, but rather the result of 'survival of the fittest' where owners cannot even close down due to the burden of sunk costs and demolition expenses.

Recently, a post celebrating the No. 1 survival rate was uploaded to Yeongdo-gu's official social media channel. Public sentiment quickly turned as critical comments analyzing the realities of the field followed. According to an analysis citing data from the Statistics Korea's Southeast Regional Statistics Office, the average annual revenue of cafes in the Busan region is 150.9 million KRW, but the median revenue—a more realistic indicator—is only 58 million KRW (approx. 4.83 million KRW per month). After deducting food and beverage cost ratios, rent, and labor costs, it is virtually impossible to generate a profit under this structure.

In particular, despite its high survival rate, Yeongdo-gu failed to enter the upper ranks of average revenue in the Busan region, trailing behind Haeundae-gu (213 million KRW) and Gangseo-gu (202 million KRW). This proves that the high survival rate is not driven by the commercial district's profit-generating power.

Actual reactions from netizens and merchants support this. Comments poured in on the post with raw testimonies from the field: "I ran a business in Gimhae for over 7 years, and I didn't stay open because I was making a profit, but because I couldn't afford to close even if I wanted to. Would Yeongdo be any different?", "Except for large establishments, most cafes are barely making enough to cover living expenses", and "We're just hanging on because we wouldn't dare pay the rent if we tried to move elsewhere." The relatively low rent compared to other commercial districts is merely the core factor keeping micro-business owners tethered to Yeongdo-gu, rather than survival driven by sales growth.

As of 2024, Busan is already facing an economic downturn where business closures outpace startups. It is a dangerous idea for local governments to package the 'delayed closure' phenomenon—where self-employed individuals are forced to continue operations because they cannot afford to forfeit key money and pay tens of millions of won in demolition costs—as an administrative achievement of being 'No. 1 in survival rate.' It is time for local governments to stop promoting hollow titles and focus their administrative power on resolving polarization between large and small businesses within commercial districts and devising practical exit strategies for struggling small merchants.