[Summary] "No Resistance When Baek Jong-won Talked About Restaurant Quota System" Ruling Party Supports Lee Jae-myung

An Minseok "Is it right when Baek Jongwon does it but criticized when Lee Jae-myung does?"
Park Chandae "Not appropriate to leave it infinitely to personal freedom"

Representative Baek Jong-won's statement at the National Assembly audit in October 2018 / Photo by Lee Jae-myung Camp

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] While the opposition parties continue to criticize Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, over his so-called 'restaurant quota system' remarks, the ruling party has come to his defense, saying, "This is something Baek Jong-won mentioned a long time ago." It is claimed that Baek Jong-won, a leading domestic dining industry expert, made similar remarks during a past National Assembly audit.

On the 29th, Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Min-seok said in an interview with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that "Baek Jong-won had already talked about this (restaurant quota system) a long time ago, and at that time, there was no resistance," adding, "I do not agree with the idea that it is right when Baek Jong-won says it but should be criticized when candidate Lee Jae-myung says it."

Park Chan-dae, a spokesperson for candidate Lee from the same party, also said in a radio interview that day, "While foreign countries operate on a permit system for restaurants, Korea allows immediate opening upon notification, which increases the likelihood of failure, so such institutional supplementation is necessary."

He explained the background of Lee's quota system remarks, saying, "From the perspective of a politician watching the increasing number of startups failing, it is not appropriate to leave right and wrong entirely to individual freedom," and "The idea of a quota system emerged at a time when a desirable reform of the socio-economic structure is needed."

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, visited Sinwon Market in Gwanak-gu, Seoul on the 27th and purchased persimmons at a fruit store. / Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, on the 27th, candidate Lee said at a nationwide meeting of small business owners and self-employed people held at Sinwon Market in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, that he was considering a 'restaurant permit quota system.'

At the time, he said, "I was told I couldn't do it because it infringes on autonomy, but the quota system is not a bad thing. Opening restaurants recklessly and failing is not freedom," adding, "Opening a restaurant and failing is not some kind of antlion pit, so I thought about operating a restaurant permit quota system. But I couldn't do it because that also infringes on autonomy."

These remarks by candidate Lee drew criticism from opposition parties. Yoon Seok-youl, a presidential pre-candidate from the People Power Party and former Prosecutor General, wrote on his Facebook on the 28th, "Is the state trying to design the lives of individual citizens?" and criticized it as "a truly totalitarian idea."

Another presidential contender from the same party, lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo, also condemned it, saying, "It is an unconstitutional idea that fundamentally infringes on the constitutional freedom to conduct business," and "It is nothing more than an outdated bureaucratic administration to protect vested interests."

Meanwhile, Baek Jong-won pointed out the domestic dining industry environment during the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Business Committee's audit of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on October 12, 2018, saying that "competition is too intense."

At that time, he said, "The number of stores per capita is too high. In Korea, it is easy to enter the dining industry, so many people start without hesitation," adding, "I also prepared a store in the U.S., but it takes at least 1 to 2 years to open a restaurant in a new location there, whereas in Korea, you just need to notify. Because it is easy to open, people jump in too recklessly."

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