"6 out of 10 Small Business Owners Negative About Raising Social Distancing to Level 3"

<기사제목>SME Central Association, COVID-19 Resurgence Small Business Perception Survey

As COVID-19 resurges, government quarantine measures have been strengthened, and citizens' consumption activities have even contracted, intensifying the hardships faced by self-employed business owners. On the 31st of last month, the Myeongdong street in Jung-gu, Seoul, known for its concentration of restaurants and various shops, appeared quiet. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Six out of ten small business owners have a negative perception of raising social distancing to level 3.

According to the "Small Business Owners' Perception Survey on the Resurgence of COVID-19" released by the Korea Federation of SMEs on the 2nd, 61.4% of 500 small business owners nationwide in wholesale and retail, food service, lodging, and other service industries responded that raising social distancing to level 3 is "unnecessary." The survey was conducted from August 27 to September 1.

The reasons for opposing the level 3 raise included concerns about sales decline, economic recession, and the need to verify the effectiveness of existing quarantine measures before considering additional steps.

Among all respondents, 38.6% answered that raising the level is necessary. The reasons for supporting the raise included early termination of COVID-19, concerns about rapid resurgence, and prevention of greater economic losses.

The most common expected damage from raising to level 3 was a "sales decrease of 30% or more" compared to the average monthly sales (81.4%), and responses regarding the appropriate duration were in order of 1 to 2 weeks (44.6%), within 1 week (28.2%), and 2 to 3 weeks (22.8%).

Regarding emergency disaster relief funds, 71.0% of respondents said "additional payments are necessary."

For the emergency disaster relief funds distributed to all citizens last May, the most common opinion was that it "helped management" (77.6%).

Reasons for supporting additional payments included ▲increased sales ▲economic revitalization ▲stimulating consumption, while reasons for opposing included ▲concerns about tax burdens ▲national fiscal soundness issues ▲and that it is only a temporary measure, not a fundamental solution.

More than half of the small business owners who participated in the survey responded that their "sales decreased by 30% or more" (56.2%) last month compared to the previous month due to the resurgence of COVID-19.

Choo Moon-gap, Director of Economic Policy at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, "If the resurgence of COVID-19 is not contained early, greater damage to socially vulnerable groups such as small business owners and micro self-employed is expected," adding, "Along with strong government quarantine measures, voluntary cooperation from all citizens is needed to achieve a turnaround as quickly as possible."

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