《Lodging and restaurant start-ups decreased while wholesalers and retailers increased amid COVID-19》 The number of lodging and restaurant start-ups decreased, while openings of wholesale and retail businesses increased following the spread of coronavirus in South Korea. According to research, the number of new lodging and restaurant businesses decreased 12% to 82,592 in the first half of this year, compared to 93,753 during the same period last year. It is the lowest volume since related data became available since 2016.  On the other hand, the number of new wholesale and retail businesses increased. A total of 186,748 new wholesale and retail businesses, the highest number since 2016, were founded in the period of January to June this year. It is a 10% rise compared to the same period a year ago. "It seems potential lodging and restaurant business operators are deferring their opening plans due to COVID-19 and the slump of the domestic economy," said Cho Hyun-taek from the Shopping District Information Lab. "However, the number of online retailers increased due to brisk online shopping transactions and its relatively low entry barriers." He added that this trend will remain if the economy stays sluggish and the pandemic doesn't end.