Convenience Stores

I read an article in The Korea Times newspaper today that talked about the rise of convenience stores in South Korea.  According to the article, the U.S. has about 150,000 such stores, while Korea has about 26,000.  However, if you compare the relative sizes of the two countries, it's clear that Koreans really love their convenience stores.  From my residence, I could walk to 7 different stores within 5 minutes. (Japan has about 50,000 convenience stores.)