McDonald's Korea raised 35 prices in February, then cut a burger 34% in August

Raise 35 list prices in February and take 1,300 won off a single burger in August, and you have not changed your mind; you are running two price lists ^[8][1]. The February increases ran 100 to 400 won an item ^[8]. The Bulgogi Burger cut is 3.25 times the largest of those increases and 13 times the smallest ^[6]. The board above the counter stays where the annual price letter left it, and the lower number goes only to the customer who orders off the Happy Snack platform, which has rotated a fresh lineup each season since 2021 ^[4]. The expansion reached the press through industry sources on the 23rd rather than a price announcement ^[15].

That gap has to be funded. Last year McDonald's Korea reported 73.2 billion won of operating profit on 1.431 trillion won of revenue ^[12], a margin of 5.1% ^[3]. The 523% profit jump reads better than it lives: working back from the reported growth rates, the prior year was roughly 1.25 trillion won of revenue and about 11.8 billion won of operating profit, a margin under 1% ^[4]. A company that has just climbed off breakeven is spending the recovery on footfall.

The prices point at a competitor that is not another burger chain. A Bulgogi Burger with a medium iced drip coffee comes to 3,500 won, about 35% of the 10,000 won that en.sedaily.com puts on a typical Seoul lunch ^[5][6], and roughly a sixth of a samgyetang bowl heading toward 20,000 won ^[7]. Using the conversion in the same report, the pair runs about $2.50 ^[9]. Croquette wraps, churros and a shake are what you buy in addition to lunch ^[5]. A beef burger and a coffee are lunch.

The cost side has not moved to make this comfortable. The industry justified this year's increases, including Burger King's 49 items and Mom's Touch's 43 ^[9][10], on imported beef patties, buns, vegetables, a high exchange rate, cooking oil, labor and rent ^[11]. None of that unwound by August, so the discount is purchased volume rather than passed-through relief. BKR, which operates Burger King, earned 42.9 billion won on 892.2 billion won of revenue, a 4.8% margin ^[14][7]; Lotte GRS came in at 4.6% ^[13][8]. None of the three has the cushion for a long argument over a 2,500 won burger, and the one that folds will be whichever chain's volume does not answer the discount.