SEOUL - You Young-sik has tried his luck running businesses, but when his convenience store, a sausage factory and a second-hand furniture shop all failed, he realised he had found a niche, one that he understood well: helping people go out of business.
"I can't do them all but I still take about twice the work I used to, which is why I need to head out at 4 or 5 in the morning," said Mr You in the city of Suwon, south of Seoul, as he answers telephone calls and tightens ropes around tables and chairs on his truck. "Our 600-pyeong storage warehouse has been completely full for about two months," said Cho Gye-su, a 53-year-old manager at Dajoobang.
While policymakers brag that retail sales returned to growth in June and per-day exports recorded the slowest decline in 7 months in August, small businesses are failing at a rate not seen since the global financial crisis, data from the Korea Statistics shows. New retirees seeking to supplement pensions by opening fried chicken diners or coffee shops and unemployed youth starting their own cafes have driven demand for second-hand sales for liquidators like You.