Worked Hard to Increase Sales... Self-Employed Business Owners Who Were Excluded from Disaster Relief Funds

Exclusion from Eligibility Despite Reduced Net Earnings Due to Increased Delivery Fees and Advertising Costs

As the prolonged fourth wave of COVID-19 continues, the alley commercial area near Ewha Womans University in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, shows a quiet scene on the 2nd, reflecting the ongoing struggles of self-employed business owners. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The fifth round of disaster relief funds for self-employed individuals began disbursing on the 17th, but sighs of frustration are growing everywhere. Since the support recipients are selected based on sales, cases where disaster relief funds are not received simply because sales increased slightly compared to last year are occurring frequently.

Yoo Homin (37, pseudonym), who runs a small rice bowl restaurant in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, was excluded from the fifth disaster relief fund recipients. Due to difficulties operating the store amid COVID-19, he was relying solely on the disaster relief funds, but was excluded because his sales increased compared to last year. Yoo said, "Since I mainly operated delivery, sales increased, but actual profits decreased, and I never imagined this would be a reason to block disaster relief fund payments," adding, "I worked hard but ended up facing losses."

Until last year, Yoo only served customers in-store. However, as COVID-19 spread rapidly, the number of customers visiting the store plummeted, and he eventually joined a major delivery platform early this year to start delivery. But this became the reason for exclusion from the disaster relief funds. Although sales increased significantly compared to when he only operated the store, after deducting various fees and advertising costs, his actual income decreased compared to last year.

Yoo explained that the commissions and advertising fees paid to the delivery application and delivery driver fees alone amount to about 2 million KRW per month. Although orders increased and more rice bowls were sold, taxes also increased. Additionally, the prices of major ingredients surged this year, greatly increasing the cost burden.

Yoo said, "As delivery orders increased, it became difficult to work alone, so I even involved my family, but currently, I cannot pay them proper wages," and appealed, "I was relying solely on the disaster relief funds, but I feel unfairly excluded just because sales increased."

Most small restaurants have shifted from in-store dining to delivery-focused operations, and cases like Yoo’s are happening nationwide. Small business owners who were completely excluded from support despite facing similar difficulties are also voicing complaints.

In this support round, even if sales decreased due to COVID-19, those not classified under government-designated management crisis industries are excluded from support. Typical examples include flower shops, bookstores, and stationery stores.

Yoo said, "Although it may be impossible to satisfy everyone, since these are difficult times for all, I hope there will be no cases where people are excluded from support just because they worked hard, and that disaster relief funds will reflect actual income."

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