Lee Jung-mi "Support Measures for Small Business Owners and Self-Employed Should Be Expanded Amid COVID-19"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Lee Jeong-mi, former leader and presidential candidate of the Justice Party, stated on the 1st that support measures for small business owners and self-employed individuals should be expanded.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On this day, Lee held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and said, "What is the reward for self-employed people bearing the pain and damage caused by quarantine measures and cooperating with government guidelines?"

Lee emphasized that the survival of small business owners and the prevention of infectious diseases must be achieved together through scientific and verified quarantine measures. She said, "At this point, we need to question the effectiveness of the business hour restriction measures," adding, "It is time to thoroughly re-examine the scientific basis for restricting business hours and consider the epidemiological relationship between self-employed business losses and quarantine effects."

Along with this, she also urged the expansion of support measures for small business owners and the self-employed.

Lee argued, "Support should be further expanded so that compensation for self-employed losses and reductions in real estate rent can be achieved together," and stated, "Hope Recovery Funds and loss compensation funds should be further increased, and new start-up companies should receive support equivalent to standard companies." She also mentioned emergency rent loans and the right to request rent reductions. Furthermore, she emphasized the need to promptly legislate the prohibition of forced eviction, tenant termination rights, and landlords' rent-sharing obligations. She added, "The structural unfairness of social disaster pain being passed only to tenants must be resolved."

In addition, Lee said, "We will use the net surplus and fiscal stabilization funds held by local governments nationwide as emergency COVID-19 response funds to compensate self-employed losses," and added, "We will cooperate with local governments to ensure that financial resources reach small business owners."

Finally, Lee stated, "It is time for a new social contract for all working citizens, including the self-employed," and said, "Let's convert employment insurance to mandatory enrollment and expand the support standards and scale of employment insurance for the self-employed."

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