"Taking Care of Quarantine While Guarding the Battlefield... Self-Employed Plea for Help with 'Rent Reduction'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] As regulations such as social distancing have been strengthened due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), self-employed business owners who have been severely affected are drawing attention by appealing to reduce their rent burdens.

On the 7th, a petition titled "Self-employed business owners are really dying. Please help reduce rent by a certain percentage" was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board.

The petitioner, who introduced themselves as a small business owner in the food service industry in Seoul, opened by saying, "This year, the livelihoods of countless small business owners have collapsed. I have also seen many comments saying self-employed people should give up their greed, as if they are the only ones struggling."

The petitioner appealed, "Right now, self-employed business owners are not running their stores out of greed but are enduring it reluctantly," adding, "Those who received emergency loans for small business owners are soon coming to the end of their grace period and will have to worry about repayment."

They continued, "I dare to predict that most people have already run out of funds due to the enormous monthly rents in the metropolitan area," and said, "Since everyone is going through a difficult time, the government measures asking everyone to make a little effort and endure have never been ignored, and self-employed business owners have quietly protected their own battlegrounds while paying close attention to quarantine."

They emphasized, "When emergency funds for small business owners were provided, those running businesses in the metropolitan area must have felt that the support was insufficient compared to the absurd rents in the metropolitan area."

They also said, "Even when the government announced the measure of income tax support for 'good landlords,' I could not find any such good landlords who voluntarily reduced rent around me or in my neighbors' surroundings."

The petitioner appealed for legal regulation of rent reduction, saying, "If everyone is going through a difficult time and all self-employed business owners are mandatorily following the rules implemented by the country, it is fair that landlords also reduce rent for tenants by the rate set by the government."

They particularly said, "What most self-employed business owners are struggling with right now is commercial rent," and added, "Even if the country provides subsidies again, it will result in enormous expenditures at the national level, and I think those subsidies will eventually come back as heavy taxes."

Finally, the petitioner expressed, "In these times when everyone says it is difficult, please prepare fair measures so that everyone can overcome this together. Instead of appeals to endure and hold on, please create an environment where everyone, though struggling, can endure together."

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