Beggar’s banquet: South Korea’s young consumers turn extreme budgeting into a game

For South Korea’s young budget-conscious consumers, finding a meal for less than 8,000 won (US$5.40) – at a time when a typical meal out in major cities can easily cost 12,000 won or more – has become more than a money-saving exercise. Crowdsourced platform Geoji Map has turned the search for ultra-cheap meals into a viral online activity. Its name, which literally translates as “Beggar Map”, reflects a broader Korean slang trend of using “beggar” humour to describe surviving on a tight...

By Judy Xue