Memorial Procession at the Street-Side Self-Employed Memorial Altar... Collective Action to Intensify After Chuseok

25 Reports of Self-Employed Choosing Extreme Measures
'Let Us at Least Honor Their Spirits'
A Small Memorial Space on the Street

Car Protests and Memorial Altars
Repeatedly Blocked by Police, Sparking Anger
Self-Employed Groups Announce Collective Action

Self-Employed Business Emergency Response Committee members paid their respects at an altar set up in front of Exit 3 of Yeouido National Assembly Station on the afternoon of the 16th, mourning self-employed individuals who passed away due to financial hardships and urging the government to lift business restriction measures. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Seungyoon Song, Donghoon Jung] "Are self-employed people destined to lie dead on the streets?"

On the morning of the 17th, around midnight, near Exit 3 of Yeouido National Assembly Station in Seoul, just before the Chuseok holiday. A white cloth in the shape of a mat was spread on one side of the sidewalk where people pass by. On the white cloth, about one pyeong in size, an altar made by stacking plastic sheets was set up, and a sign with the phrase ‘謹弔 (Geunjo) Republic of Korea Small Business Owners and Self-Employed’ was placed instead of a portrait. An incense stick was placed in a makeshift censer made from a plastic cup filled with sand. This place is a joint memorial altar set up by self-employed organizations to honor the spirits of self-employed people who took extreme measures due to financial hardship.

The National Emergency Response Committee for Self-Employed in Response to COVID-19 (Emergency Committee) installed a temporary memorial altar here for self-employed people who took extreme measures. The Emergency Committee originally planned to set up the joint memorial altar in front of Exit 1 of National Assembly Station around 2 p.m. the previous day but was blocked by the police. The police judged that it might violate the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and the Assembly and Demonstration Act. After a standoff lasting over seven hours, the memorial altar was finally set up at another nearby location.

The memorial altar saw a continuous line of self-employed people and citizens paying their respects until late at night. Self-employed visitors to the altar stood silently with sorrowful expressions for a long time or shed tears after paying respects. Some displayed black ribbon photos on their mobile phones while guarding the altar. One self-employed visitor said, "We are not holding an illegal assembly, so what is so wrong about setting up a small space for mourning?" and added, "It was so hard to live that it felt like dying, and now even after death, to be treated like this is so unfair." Kim Ki-hong, co-representative of the Emergency Committee for the Self-Employed, said after paying respects, "It is so difficult for self-employed people to raise their voices asking to be saved," and "I hope small business owners and self-employed people do not lose courage and find strength." The Emergency Committee plans to operate the memorial altar until the 18th. From 6 a.m. that day, general mourners, the president of the Small Business Association, and key politicians have been visiting the altar.

Self-employed organizations including the Emergency Committee are expected to continue collective actions such as vehicle protests even after Chuseok. Their anger has reached a peak as their attempts to hold vehicle protests and set up memorial altars have repeatedly been blocked. The wave of mourning continues online as well. In group chat rooms with hundreds of self-employed participants, members posted black ribbons as profile pictures and held memorial relay events.

Choi Seung-jae, a member of the People Power Party and former president of the Small Business Association, delivered an appeal to the Blue House urging the protection of self-employed business rights. Mourning the recent series of extreme measures taken by self-employed people, Choi wore mourning clothes and walked on foot for four days from the National Assembly starting on the 13th, passing through major commercial districts in Seoul such as Mapo, Jongno, and Myeongdong. Regarding President Moon’s statement that Korea would become ‘the safest country from COVID-19,’ he pointed out, "Small business owners and self-employed people are struggling to survive due to poverty."

According to the Small Business Association and the Emergency Committee, in addition to known cases such as self-employed people in Mapo-gu, 25 reports related to self-employed people who took extreme measures have been received so far. These organizations report that since the COVID-19 crisis, self-employed people have accumulated debts exceeding 66 trillion won over one and a half years, and more than 453,000 stores have closed.