S. Korea's restaurants more confident in business environment in Q1

South Korean restaurants' business sentiment rebounded in the first quarter, scoring 67.26 in the business survey index (BSI), up 7.5 points from a year earlier, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.

The corporation attributed the first-quarter rebound to relaxed social distancing measures, which allowed more citizens to dine out.

The government extended restaurant operating hours by one hour to 10 pm in the Seoul metropolitan area while lifting business-hour regulations on the rest of the country in February.

The first-quarter BSI was 7.93 points higher than in the fourth quarter of last year, which was at an all-time low due to the pandemic.

South Korea's restaurant industry has been in a long slump due to the pandemic-induced social distancing measures that kept people from dining out.