Restaurants: Café as Classroom: The Cagongjok Phenomenon Redefining Korea’s Coffee Culture
- InsightTrendsWorld
- Aug 27
- 6 min read
The Cagongjok Trend – Cafés as Study Halls and Workspaces
Cafés become extended classrooms and offices: Students and young professionals in South Korea spend long hours in coffee shops, using them as alternative study or workspaces instead of homes, libraries, or co-working spaces.
Driven by space and lifestyle needs: Many live in small apartments or shared housing, making cafés more appealing for focus, structure, and comfort.
Blurring leisure and productivity: What was once a quick stop for coffee has evolved into a hybrid “third space” where leisure, study, and remote work overlap.
Rising debate around etiquette: Patrons often bring laptops, chargers, and even power strips, staying for hours while making minimal purchases—this strains café turnover and profitability, sparking controversy about fair use.
Mixed café responses: Large chains are introducing restrictions on excessive setups, while some independent cafés are embracing the trend by adding study booths, more outlets, and Wi-Fi-friendly layouts.
Social aspiration and cultural visibility: For many young people, studying in cafés is not just functional—it has become aspirational, signaling discipline, modernity, and connection to urban culture.
Global relevance: While particularly strong in Korea, this reflects a broader global shift—cafés everywhere are increasingly doubling as informal co-working spaces, reshaping both consumer expectations and coffeehouse design.
Why It’s Trending – Because Screens Need Seats, and Cafés Provide Both
The trend is rising for several reasons. Many South Koreans live in compact housing with limited quiet or private space, making cafés an accessible “third place” where they can focus. Academic intensity and a culture of long study hours further push students toward environments that feel supportive of concentration.
At the same time, remote work and the blending of study, leisure, and digital life make cafés feel like the perfect compromise between home and office. However, this very convenience has also sparked debate. Customers who linger too long without buying enough to justify their stay are seen as abusing the space, and café owners are struggling to balance hospitality with business viability.
Overview – Café Culture Under Strain
What started as a win-win arrangement—cafés gaining steady customers and students finding study spots—has turned into a cultural tension point. Many Cagongjok patrons occupy tables for long stretches with minimal purchases, limiting turnover and frustrating both café owners and casual visitors who just want a quick drink. Cafés are evolving into semi-permanent study and work zones, which benefits one group of users but challenges the traditional model of coffee culture.
Detailed Findings – Layers of the Lifestyle and Tension
Students and workers often set up complete study stations in cafés, including laptops, multiple devices, and even power strips.
Some patrons go so far as to bring desktops or partitions, creating mini-offices inside cafés and raising questions of etiquette.
Viral images of tables overflowing with personal study materials highlight the problem of long-term occupation without adequate purchase.
Major café chains have begun to respond by restricting the use of power strips, large equipment, or extended setups.
In contrast, some independent cafés are leaning into the trend by installing more outlets, offering private study booths, or marketing themselves as study-friendly zones.
Key Success Factors – Why Cagongjok Thrives and Torments
Compact homes and urban lifestyles leave many young people searching for alternative spaces.
Cafés provide not just food and drink, but a sense of rhythm, structure, and background energy.
Many patrons see café study time as aspirational—something that looks disciplined, modern, and socially acceptable.
For some cafés, accommodating Cagongjok patrons brings steady footfall, but for others, long stays reduce profitability.
Key Takeaway – Studying in a Café Is a Cultural Act, Not Just a Coffee Break
Cagongjok illustrates how the meaning of cafés has evolved. They are no longer just social hubs or quick refreshment stops, but critical urban sanctuaries where young people seek productivity, identity, and belonging. Balancing this role with fair business practices has become a cultural conversation.
Main Trend – From Café to Co-Work
This is part of a wider global shift in how we use public spaces. Cafés are becoming hybrid venues—simultaneously social lounges and informal workstations. The blending of leisure and labor is reshaping expectations of what a coffee shop can and should be.
Description of the Trend: “Hybrid Café Spaces”
“Hybrid Café Spaces” capture the evolution of coffee shops into multi-functional environments. They now operate at the intersection of hospitality and utility, catering to both quick coffee drinkers and all-day studiers or remote workers.
Key Characteristics of the Core Trend
Reliance on cafés as essential third spaces outside home or school.
Blurred boundaries between work, study, and leisure.
Rising demand for design elements like silent booths, abundant charging points, and stronger Wi-Fi.
Pushback from café operators who want to preserve turnover and ambience.
A cultural split between seeing cafés as public study zones or purely commercial spaces.
Market & Cultural Indicators – Why It’s Gaining Momentum
South Korea has one of the highest concentrations of cafés in the world, with well over 100,000 outlets. Academic pressures remain intense, driving students to seek supportive study environments beyond schools or homes. Social media has amplified the debate, with viral images and commentary fueling public awareness. As a result, some café chains now actively promote rules against excessive setups, while others embrace the trend by branding themselves as study cafés.
Consumer Motivation – Beyond Coffee, They Come for Continuity
They need focus-friendly zones outside cramped apartments.
They seek the motivating energy of being surrounded by others who are also working.
They value affordable access to Wi-Fi, charging points, and a seat.
They see studying in cafés as modern, aspirational, and socially visible.
Deeper Impulse – Work, Live, Lounge
Cagongjok reflects broader cultural currents. It embodies the desire for flexibility in lifestyle, the blending of leisure and labor, and the need for communal yet private environments. It also reflects generational dynamics, where public spaces double as identity-forming zones.
Who Is the Cagongjok Collective?
Consumer Summary:They are diligent students and young professionals who seek cafés as practical and aspirational study zones. They are reshaping coffee culture through extended use of public spaces for private goals.
Who They Are: Mostly young adults, including students and early-career workers.Age: Late teens through early 30s.Gender: Inclusive across all demographics.Income: Generally modest; cafés are more affordable than co-working spaces.Lifestyle: Ambitious, digitally connected, academically or career-focused, and reliant on routines that mix productivity with leisure.
Behavioral Shifts – When Caffeine Meets Discipline
Long café visits are now normalized in youth culture.
Businesses distinguish between casual visitors and extended-stay patrons.
Some cafés create pricing models or “study zones” to manage demand.
Café study culture has shifted public expectations of what is acceptable behavior in these spaces.
Ecosystem Implications – The Café Furniture Balance
For café operators, the trend presents both opportunity and strain—should they design for turnover or for all-day stays?
For consumers, cafés become safe, reliable public zones for focus and continuity.
For designers and policymakers, the rise of hybrid cafés highlights the need for innovative public space models in crowded cities.
Forecast – Creating Co-Work Cafés
More cafés will formalize hybrid models, offering memberships, hourly seating fees, or silent work zones.
Interior design will increasingly include private booths, charging hubs, and study-friendly layouts.
Transparent policies will emerge, clearly outlining how long patrons can stay and under what conditions.
Premium cafés may launch “focus packages,” bundling drinks with reserved seating and guaranteed Wi-Fi.
Innovation Possibilities
Time-Based Seating Fees – Patrons pay based on hours of use, balancing fairness for all.
Membership Tiers – Frequent study patrons receive subscription-style access.
Hybrid Café Architecture – Separate sections for leisure and study.
Smart Occupancy Tracking – Real-time seat availability shown via apps.
Amenity Bundles – Drinks and snacks paired with guaranteed charging and Wi-Fi.
Trend Summary – Cafés as Co-Work Futures
Core Consumer Trend: Students and workers using cafés as functional workspaces.
Core Social Shift: Public spaces doubling as semi-private productivity hubs.
Core Strategy: Blending hospitality with practical amenities.
Industry Evolution: Growth of study cafés and hybrid layouts.
Motivation: Desire for focus, comfort, community, and accessible workspaces.
Final Thought – Brewing Balance in Café Culture
The Cagongjok trend reveals how modern life reshapes public spaces. For students and professionals under pressure, cafés offer both caffeine and continuity. Yet for café owners, the balance between business needs and cultural shifts is delicate. The future of coffee culture in Korea will hinge on finding solutions that preserve cafés as welcoming, profitable, and culturally adaptive spaces—places where both a quick coffee and a six-hour study session can coexist in harmony.
Comments