Banner Saying 'Armed with a Weapon, Reporting the Building Owner to Daehanminguk'
A female owner of a Yukhoe specialty restaurant in Gangnam protested naked in response to the landlord's demand to increase the deposit by 150% and the monthly rent by 40%.
On the 14th, a video titled "Gangnam Station Yukhoe Restaurant Owner Naked Harakiri Incident" was uploaded on the YouTube channel 'Detective Karakula.' According to the video, at the end of December last year, Ms. A, who runs a Yukhoe specialty restaurant in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, expressed her grievance naked in front of her store while holding a weapon.
Gangnam-daero Gangnam Intersection Photo by Asia Economy DB
At the time, Ms. A was holding a weapon in one hand, and red liquid that looked like blood was smeared on her abdomen. Three disabled people in wheelchairs were with her. A banner on the store sign read, "We report the landlord who demands a 150% increase in deposit and 40% increase in monthly rent during the COVID-19 period to the Republic of Korea."
In front of the gathered crowd, Ms. A shouted, "The landlord raised the deposit by 150% and the monthly rent by 40%. The adjacent store was also mine, but I was kicked out during COVID-19."
She then said, "Take pictures. Upload this. Tell all these evil landlords to come," while putting the weapon in her mouth. The police, who arrived after receiving a report, subdued Ms. A by saying, "Put the knife down," and the situation was temporarily resolved.
Ms. A, who appeared on the YouTube channel 'Detective Karakula,' explained the situation during an interview. She claimed, "Originally, the deposit was 60 million won and the monthly rent was 6.8 million won. Then the landlord said during COVID-19, even though the contract period was not over, the deposit would be raised to 150 million won and the monthly rent to 10 million won."
She continued, "The adjacent gimbap shop was originally mine too, but they said they would raise the deposit and rent. Since it was during COVID-19, I just gave up and left, suffering a loss of 500 million won. The Yukhoe restaurant couldn’t operate for two years due to COVID-19, but I was holding on. Now, I’m about to lose 1 billion won in this very spot. I wouldn’t have taken off my clothes like this if it weren’t that serious," she vented in frustration.
Netizens who saw this left comments such as, "This is a heartbreaking situation. I hope it gets resolved well," and "I used to go there sometimes, and it seems it was so hard that she had to protest. I hope both parties reach a smooth compromise from their perspectives."
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