Closed Small Business Owners' 'Tearful Clearance Sales' Online

Used Item Listings Flood
50 Clothes for 150,000 Won
Restaurant and PC Bang Equipment Sold Cheap
453,000 Businesses Closed in 1 Year 6 Months

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] "We are a custom suit business, but due to worsening management, we are closing the store. We are organizing items needed for clothing."

As the situation for self-employed business owners worsens due to the 'COVID-19 recession,' posts offering to sell closing-down items cheaply are continuously appearing on secondhand trading sites. Self-employed individuals are posting used items online to reduce closure losses even slightly and to recover some money.

On the 16th, entering keywords like 'COVID-19' and 'closure' on secondhand trading sites easily reveals posts offering to clear used items at low prices. One post titled "Clothing store closure, clearance sale of new women's clothing and accessories" stated, "We are clearing out T-shirts, pants, jumpers, hats, shoes, and more. Most are unopened new products that were sold in-store, and some were displayed on racks, but all are new products." The poster also attached photos of clothing and said they were clearing 40 to 50 pieces for 150,000 won. In addition, self-employed people from various industries such as restaurants and PC rooms posted about selling fixtures after choosing to close their businesses.

On the secondhand trading platform Danggeun Market, a post titled "Selling restaurant supplies" included plastic and stainless steel containers for delivery. The seller offered 150 delivery containers for pork cutlets at just 20,000 won and 60 delivery boxes for 10,000 won. One self-employed person said, "You can sell all closure items at once to a buyer who purchases used goods, but often the price is heavily discounted. Although it is cumbersome and annoying, posting used goods online one by one and selling them is the way to minimize economic losses."

Self-employed business owners are being pushed to the brink by the direct impact of COVID-19. The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business claims that over the past year and a half, self-employed individuals have taken on more than 66 trillion won in debt, and a total of 453,000 stores have closed. On average, about 1,000 stores closed daily. Extreme choices by small merchants and self-employed people continue. On the 7th, a self-employed man in his 50s who ran a pub in Mapo-gu, Seoul, took an extreme step. Despite a significant drop in sales due to COVID-19, he reportedly used the deposit from his one-room apartment to pay his employees' wages. A chicken restaurant owner in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do, was also found dead with a note saying "It's hard." In addition, on the 13th, a man in his 50s who operated an entertainment establishment in Wonju was found dead. He had confided in acquaintances about his struggles and had been unable to pay rent for several months.

The 'COVID-19 Response National Emergency Committee for Self-Employed (Emergency Committee)' reported receiving information that 22 self-employed people took extreme measures over just two days from the 13th to the 14th. Members of the Emergency Committee displayed mourning ribbons on their KakaoTalk profile pictures to pray for the deceased. The committee also stated, "We plan to set up a joint memorial altar to mourn the souls of many small business owners who ended their lives." The joint memorial altar is planned to be installed at Yeouido National Assembly Station in Seoul. Self-employed people estimate that there are many more unreported deaths. Many cases exist where businesses such as pubs, chicken restaurants, karaoke rooms, gyms, bowling alleys, and billiard halls cannot close due to losing deposits and having to pay restoration costs and loan repayments. According to a survey released in June by the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Indoor Sports Facility Emergency Committee, 26.8% of businesses have been overdue on rent for more than three months and are at risk of contract termination at any moment.

As the situation worsens, voices demanding countermeasures are emerging everywhere. Civic groups such as the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy held a press conference that day, stating, "The National Assembly and government, which have consistently pursued fragmentary and makeshift measures rather than effective and sufficient support policies, cannot be free from responsibility for these deaths," and urged the preparation of measures for small merchants and self-employed people.