# @restofworld on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CXjIPnNrHF6
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/78900743-restofworld-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/0a426bf0cc.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-12-16T15:32:59.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Rest of World (@restofworld) — https://gondola.cc/restofworld

## Caption

South Korea has left hard cash in the dust. The country is a virtually friction-free, digital payments dream, where just a fraction of purchases are done in notes and coins. Park Se-hwa’s bookstore, on a commercial street in Seoul, is a holdout. Inside the narrow door, a sign reads: “The best way to support the bookstore is to pay cash.” She bristles every time she processes a purchase by card, since it means she has to pay a fee to the bank, and refuses to use digital payment services at all.⁠
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“Those big companies are the public enemy of booksellers,” she said.⁠
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Her fears reverberate as high up as South Korea’s lawmakers and antitrust commission, who have spent this year attempting to rein in the country’s vastly powerful tech giants. Kakao and Naver are the main targets: They have rapidly expanded their tentacles into South Koreans’ digital lives. The government worries that their growth is coming at the sacrifice of the country’s small businesses. With South Koreans’ buying activity moving almost entirely online, and the margins of small businesses contracting, Park worries that the texture is disappearing from Seoul’s streets.⁠

“If you look in any new area, it’s always just chain stores that open, the same corporate convenience stores and coffee shops. Independent stores can’t compete with them.”⁠
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Read the full story through the link in our bio. Photo by Jean Chung for Rest of World.

#bookstores #books #payments #digitalsales #smallbusiness

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## Credits

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## Tags

payments, smallbusiness, digitalsales, books, bookstores

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