Restaurants and Cafes Complain, "If Social Distancing Is Half-Hearted, We'd Rather Endure the Painful Level 3"

COVID-19 New Cases Exceed 1,000, Discussion on Level 3 Measures
Flawed K-Quarantine Failure... Strengthening Social Distancing Needed Despite Difficulties
Shutdown Fears Lead to Business Suspensions... Unavoidable Wave of Closures

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] "If we keep implementing social distancing regulations bit by bit, only self-employed business owners will suffer. The way to save self-employment is to quickly escalate social distancing measures and resolve this situation."

At around 8 p.m. on the 13th, Choi, the owner of a restaurant in Jongno-gu, Seoul, who was closing his hall (store) business, complained in a voice full of frustration, "K-quarantine has failed due to the piecemeal social distancing, and the damage has fallen entirely on the self-employed." He said, "When people running restaurants gather these days, they express resentment that if strict social distancing had been implemented early on, it wouldn't have come to this situation, and they also say that it would be better to escalate quickly now to stop the increasing trend of confirmed cases."

"Worrying about self-employed business owners leads to even greater damage"

As the daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19 exceed 1,000 and discussions about escalating to social distancing level 3 are intensifying, self-employed business owners are expressing opinions to "escalate quickly and control it." If escalated to level 3, restaurants can operate their stores until 9 p.m., but the number of customers is limited to one person per 8㎡ (about 2.4 pyeong). Since only one customer can be served in a space of about 2 pyeong, considering ingredient and labor costs, temporary closure might be better. Kim, who runs a restaurant in Gwanghwamun, said, "I have actually given up on dinner service and have been surviving on lunch sales, but if it becomes level 3, our store can only accommodate about 10 people at a time, so it’s almost like being closed."

In an online self-employed community with 600,000 members, one self-employed person said, "Because the social distancing level has been repeatedly lowered and raised ambiguously, the number of confirmed cases has eventually exceeded 1,000," and added, "They hesitate out of concern for self-employed business owners, but this only makes the damage snowball."

For cafes, both level 2.5 and level 3 allow takeout and delivery, so there is no change, but there is concern about losing customers. Kim, who runs a cafe in Seodaemun-gu, said, "After level 2.5, the number of takeout customers is less than 10 per day on average," and added, "If it becomes level 3, the atmosphere will cause even this to decrease, but still, to get out of this quickly, we have to endure the pain of escalating to level 3 together."

Amid strengthened quarantine measures in the metropolitan area to curb the spread of the third wave of the novel coronavirus infection, a store closure scene on Myeongdong Street, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Self-employed businesses pushed to the brink of mass closures

There are also heartbreaking stories from self-employed business owners. Lee, who runs a restaurant in Mapo-gu, said, "Since the escalation to level 2.5, I have been receiving only one or two tables in the evening on average and have been continuously running at a loss," and added, "If it becomes level 3, customers will stop coming altogether, and since I have taken out many loans, the future looks bleak and I can't think of anything."

According to the Korea Foodservice Industry Association’s Korea Foodservice Industry Research Institute, the Shinhan Card payment amount for the foodservice industry (restaurants and pubs) from January to September was 71.779 trillion won, a decrease of 7.9655 trillion won (10.0%) compared to the previous year. Looking at the results of the recent 'COVID-19 Foodservice Industry Impact Survey,' most businesses reported a decrease in sales with dining out visits at 90.5% in the first quarter and 89.0% in the third quarter. The foodservice industry market size, which had grown more than 7% annually, is expected to shrink by more than 10% this year, decreasing by over 15 trillion won.

Outside of restaurants, the entire self-employed market is seeing a surge in closures. According to the KB Financial Group Management Research Institute’s report "COVID-19 and the Bright and Dark Sides of Self-Employment," from January to July this year, the number of closures exceeded openings in sectors such as PC rooms, billiard halls, golf practice ranges, karaoke rooms, barbershops, bathhouses, and entertainment pubs. The number of closures in these sectors was 3 to 4 times higher than openings. Kim Dong-woo, a research fellow at KB Financial Group Management Research Institute, predicted, "With the third wave of COVID-19 emerging after November, the number of closures in sectors already hit by COVID-19 is expected to increase further."