Yeom Tae-young "Government Must Actively Support 'Business Freedom and Loss Compensation' for Self-Employed and Small Business Owners"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Yeom Tae-young, mayor of Suwon City, urged the government to actively support small business owners and self-employed individuals who are pushed to the brink by COVID-19.

He also called on the government to either boldly invest fiscal resources to support small business owners and the self-employed or lift the Level 4 social distancing measures and transition to a "With COVID" policy.

On the 15th, Mayor Yeom posted a photo of a press conference held by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business and the National Emergency Committee of the Self-Employed on his personal SNS, stating, "The government must not ignore the difficulties faced by small business owners and self-employed individuals whose operations were banned or restricted due to COVID-19," and insisted, "Fiscal resources secured additionally in the first half of the year should be used quickly and boldly."

Mayor Yeom has repeatedly called for the government’s active measures to help small business owners and the self-employed overcome the COVID crisis whenever possible.

Earlier, on the 14th, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business and the National Emergency Committee of the Self-Employed held a press conference demanding the government to "abolish business restrictions" and provide "full compensation for losses."

They emphasized, "Over the past year and a half, self-employed individuals have accumulated debts exceeding 66 trillion won, and about 1,000 stores have closed daily," adding, "The government should withdraw quarantine guidelines focused on business hours and personnel restrictions and shift quarantine policies to 'With COVID' to guarantee the business freedom of small business owners."

They also appealed, "Compensation must inevitably follow business restrictions," and urged, "Please compensate small business owners 100% for their damages."

Regarding this, Mayor Yeom expressed regret, saying, "There are countless industries struggling to survive day by day due to the spread of COVID-19," and "The repeated extreme choices of self-employed individuals are not only personal tragedies but also disasters for our society."

He also lamented the current situation, stating, "Although the government has introduced compensation measures such as 'Hope Recovery Fund' and 'Small Business Loss Compensation,' from the perspective of those affected, the speed is too slow and there are many blind spots," and "Suwon City is continuously identifying areas where government support does not reach and preparing support measures, but the reality is that the financial capacity of local governments has many limitations."

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