Indoor Sports Industry Files Compensation Lawsuit Against Government: "No Basis for Gathering Ban"

On the morning of the 12th, in front of the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Park Ju-hyung, the representative of the Pilates Fitness Business Federation (left), is holding the complaint together with the lawsuit representatives at the 'Pilates Fitness Business Federation Collective Lawsuit Press Conference Against the Government.'
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Indoor sports facility operators, who had suspended operations due to social distancing measures, have filed a lawsuit against the government seeking damages.

The 'Pilates & Fitness Business Operators Federation' (hereinafter the Federation) announced on the 12th that 203 business operators filed a lawsuit at the Seoul Western District Court, claiming a total of 1,015,000,000 KRW in damages against the Republic of Korea, requesting 5 million KRW per person.

Indoor sports facility operators, including gyms, held a press conference in front of the court on the same day, stating, "An analysis of confirmed COVID-19 cases occurring in indoor sports facilities in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas over the past year since January last year shows that they accounted for only 0.64% of all confirmed cases." They added, "About 57% of cases have an unknown infection route, but since indoor sports facilities operate on a membership basis, such cases cannot originate there," and appealed, "Because the government has ingrained the image of high-risk facilities in the public mind, local branches have seen their sales drop to one-third."

The group emphasized, "If the government simply assumed that many droplets would be emitted in indoor sports facilities and imposed gathering bans and restrictions, it should reconsider," and added, "We hope the government will either provide scientific data or tell us that our analysis is incorrect."

The group also filed a lawsuit at the Seoul Southern District Court at the end of last month, claiming 765,000,000 KRW in damages against the government. Park Joo-hyung, the Federation's representative, said, "Through this lawsuit, we seek compensation for the financial damages suffered by indoor sports facility operators and urge the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to take measures that minimize the damage to indoor sports operators while pursuing a balance between public and private interests."

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