In South Korea, it is quite common for stores to use sliding automatic doors. If anything, it is rarer to find a door that needs to be pushed or pulled when in the city. This is incredibly convenient when you have plenty of shopping bags in your hands after a not so quick trip to Seongsu.
Unfortunately, I have been personally victimized by these doors on a few occasions. Majority of the time, the doors open and close based on sensing movement. There are times, however, that the door will have a push button to be pressed.
I may be clumsy, but I do feel that these doors are at fault with me. There was one time when a door closed on me while I left the restaurant – actually this may have happened more than once.
Despite this, I do really like the automatic doors and wish the United States had more of them. In my experience, they tend to only be found in large buildings such as the airport or offices. It seems the States tend to favor push/pull doors.
If you plan to come to Seoul any time soon, you can rest assured that you need not burden yourself with the task of opening a door while having hands full – 90% of the time the door will open for you!
Sushi I had at the restaurant where the door closed on me.
Until next time 🙂
Linh Duong
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