Service Industry "Survival Uncertain Due to COVID-19, Urging National Assembly and Local Governments to Take Active Measures"

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced on the 27th that it held a COVID-19 countermeasure meeting with seven industry organizations, including aviation, hotels, duty-free shops, travel, and construction, at Dalgaebi in Jung-gu, Seoul. Woo Tae-hee, the full-time vice chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is delivering a greeting.

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] The service industry is appealing for prompt support from the government, the National Assembly, and local governments, stating that it is struggling not only to maintain employment but also to survive due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced on the 27th that it held a COVID-19 countermeasure meeting with seven industry groups including aviation, hotels, duty-free shops, travel, and construction at Dalgaebi in Jung-gu, Seoul.

At the meeting, participants explained that the service sector, which has more than twice the employment inducement effect compared to manufacturing, is facing difficulties due to the sharp contraction in demand caused by COVID-19.

They expressed concern that if prompt and bold support is not provided at the government, National Assembly, and local government levels, the industry will face even greater difficulties in the second quarter.

In particular, since the service industry is a regionally-based industry, revisions to related ordinances by local governments are necessary as much as support from the central government, but support from local governments is slower compared to the central government, they pointed out.

Jung O-seop, Secretary General of the Korea Hotel Association, said, "The hotel industry requires huge fixed costs and facility maintenance costs due to its industrial characteristics and has a relatively vulnerable profit structure compared to other industries." He added, "Although the government announced support measures for the tourism industry such as property tax reductions and traffic inducement charge reductions for tourist hotels, local governments have not taken measures such as ordinance revisions, so government policies are not reaching the field."

Shin Chi-min, Executive Director of the Korea Department Store Association, requested the rationalization of the criteria for calculating traffic inducement charges imposed on large distribution facilities.

Executive Director Shin said, "The traffic inducement coefficients applied by local governments to large sales facilities are set excessively high compared to venues such as performance halls and auditoriums that cause similar levels of traffic congestion." He added, "Due to changes in consumption patterns, the number of visitors to large stores such as department stores and marts has significantly decreased, so applying past standards as they are is inappropriate," requesting improvements.

There is also a call for additional and prompt support from the government and the National Assembly. Baek Seung-pil, Executive Vice President of the Korea Travel Association, said, "Travel industry sales in March this year were almost nonexistent," and added, "The level of employment retention subsidies should be raised to 100%, and the conditions for employment retention should be relaxed."

Woo Tae-hee, Executive Vice President of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated, "The reason why there was no panic buying in Korea despite the COVID-19 crisis is that the well-established distribution industry played a role as a 'social platform.'" He emphasized, "The service industry, which acts as a job support pillar, should be recognized as a kind of key industry, and bold government support should be provided."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.