Corona Victims Business Association to Hold Government and Ruling Party Protest Rally on 8th
Demanding Retroactive Compensation, Removal of Operating Hours and Personnel Restrictions
"Large-Scale Protest Rally to Be Held in Seoul"
Members of the Korea Federation of Self-Employed Affected by COVID-19 held a "Rally to Condemn the Government and Ruling Party and Urge Substantial Compensation for COVID-19 Damages" in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 8th, calling for substantial compensation for losses and the complete lifting of gathering restrictions. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Self-employed individuals who suffered losses due to COVID-19 quarantine measures have once again taken to the streets.
The COVID-19 Victim Self-Employed General Federation, formed by 20 industry groups including dining, entertainment, and academies, held a "Government and Ruling Party Condemnation Rally Urging Substantial Compensation for COVID-19 Damage" at 2 p.m. on the 8th in front of Kookmin Bank in Yeouido, Seoul. They demanded substantial compensation for affected industries, the abolition of operating hour and personnel restrictions, and retroactive application of loss compensation. They stated, "Due to social distancing, self-employed people have been buried in debt, but the government and ruling party have only provided meager and inadequate compensation while taking credit," adding, "The 15% of self-employed people who received loss compensation for three months got only about 100,000 won, which amounts to roughly 33,000 won per month."
Co-representative Min Sang-heon pointed out, "The government excluded self-employed individuals with annual sales over 1 billion won, who were relatively more affected by COVID-19, from the loss compensation targets, pushing them to the brink of bankruptcy," and questioned, "Is increasing sales, paying more taxes, and hiring more employees considered a crime in Korea?" Co-representative Oh Ho-seok also said, "Although loss compensation plans have been discussed since last year, the government and ruling party only passed the law in July this year," adding, "Due to the delayed response, the damages to small business owners have snowballed, and the government and ruling party must take responsibility accordingly."
Starting with this rally, they plan to hold nationwide condemnation rallies in a relay format on the 15th and 21st of this month in Busan and Gwangju, respectively, and a large-scale condemnation rally in Seoul with self-employed participants from across the country. They also intend to file a large-scale collective loss compensation lawsuit against the government, conduct a signature campaign aiming for 1 million signatures, and launch a national fundraising campaign to support self-employed individuals. They plan to appeal these issues through the Blue House's national petition system. Additionally, they have plans to conduct a campaign to defeat presidential candidates who are unfriendly to self-employed people.
The collective actions of self-employed individuals, which had been quiet for a while after the phased return to normal life (With COVID), seem to be resuming following the implementation of strengthened quarantine measures. Earlier, the COVID-19 Response National Emergency Committee of Self-Employed, which led several nationwide vehicle protests, issued a statement on the first day of the special COVID-19 quarantine measures on the 6th, announcing, "We will unite with all groups harmed by the vaccination certificate and negative test confirmation system (quarantine pass) and use all means to oppose the quarantine policy that has broken trust."
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