[Report] "We Kept Our Promise, Government Broke Theirs"... Desperate Self-Employed Protest at Gwanghwamun

Self-Employed Group Holds Mass Rally in Gwanghwamun, Seoul
"Compensate Losses Regardless of Sales Scale", "Withdraw the Quarantine Pass"

An attendee at a rally is holding a placard while protesting. The placard reads, "It has been two years since we were told to endure with the money earned from small business owners. What money should we endure with now?" Photo by Heo Midam damdam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] "Withdraw the quarantine pass!", "Guarantee the survival rights of small business owners!"

As the government strengthens social distancing measures until early next month, small business owners and self-employed people from across the country gathered on the streets of Gwanghwamun, Seoul, to protest against the quarantine guidelines. They claim to have suffered huge damages due to the government's continuous failure in quarantine and are urging the withdrawal of the quarantine pass (vaccination certificate/negative test confirmation). In particular, self-employed people raised their voices, pointing out that the compensation paid by the government is far from sufficient to cover the actual damages.

On the 22nd, the National Emergency Countermeasures Committee for Self-Employed People in Response to COVID-19 (Emergency Committee) held a general rally from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Gwanghwamun Citizen Open Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Despite subzero temperatures, participants raised their voices in criticism of the government. They held placards with messages such as "We kept our promises for 2 years, but the government broke its promises," and "Do we really have to commit suicide to end this? What about my family?" Some participants wore red masks with the phrase "Compensate losses regardless of sales scale!" They shouted slogans such as "Guarantee survival rights" and "Withdraw the quarantine pass" as they continued the protest.

The Emergency Committee initially reported the rally with 299 participants. However, more people gathered than expected at the rally held that day. The rally site was fenced off to limit the number of participants, but some self-employed people who could not enter the fenced area protested fiercely to the police, demanding to be let in.

The National Emergency Measures Committee for Self-Employed Workers in Response to COVID-19 held a general rally on the 22nd at the Citizen Open Square in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, demanding the suspension of business restrictions and the quarantine pass system. Photo by Heo Midam damdam@

On the day, Oh Se-hee, president of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, pointed out in his opening speech, "We small business owners and self-employed people have been the biggest victims and unilateral scapegoats of the COVID-19 crisis for the past two years. We have actively cooperated with quarantine measures, but the quarantine policies keep being extended, and the insufficient support funds and compensation payments make overcoming the crisis a long way off."

He appealed, "The economy of small business owners and self-employed people is shaking due to the COVID-19 crisis, and even our national economy is shaking. The number of closures is increasing, and small business owners and self-employed people who cannot endure are being driven to extreme choices."

Oh then urged the government to ▲withdraw the quarantine pass ▲abolish business restrictions ▲significantly expand support funds for small business owners ▲immediately revise the enforcement decree of the Loss Compensation Act ▲withdraw the expansion of the Labor Standards Act to workplaces with fewer than five employees.

Before the rally began, around 2 p.m., Kim, a self-employed person in his 40s who had been at the rally site, also expressed anger at the government's quarantine guidelines.

Kim, who said he had operated an entertainment establishment since the second half of 2019, said, "The government does not compensate for damages and is caught up in a self-congratulatory frame called 'K-quarantine.' They are pushing the atmosphere as if operating entertainment establishments is illegal. If the business restrictions were short-term, we could endure it. But self-employed people have been sacrificing for two years now. How much longer do we have to endure?" he raised his voice.

He continued, "I don't know who these policies are for. There is no fairness. Only self-employed people are dying due to the government's armchair theorizing. Restaurants that operate during the day can stay open until night, but places like ours open late and are just deserted. There should be different business hour restrictions by industry, but what is the point of uniformly restricting business hours until 9 p.m.?" he vented his frustration.

On the 22nd, participants at the rally held placards and took part in the protest. Photo by Heo Midam damdam@

Another self-employed person in his 40s, Hong, said, "I operate an entertainment establishment and came up from Jeolla Province because I was so frustrated. I can't endure the unfairness. I don't know where it all went wrong. Self-employed people and small business owners did everything the government asked. We sacrificed this much, but we get nothing in return," he lamented.

He added, "It's not just mocking self-employed people; after implementing 'With Corona,' they strengthened social distancing again. What kind of action is this? The government is driving self-employed people to the brink," he criticized.

Meanwhile, some politicians, including Won Hee-ryong, head of the Policy Headquarters of the People Power Party's election campaign committee, and Lee Seong-man, a member of the Democratic Party, also took the stage, apologizing to small business owners and self-employed people nationwide. However, they rather provoked backlash from the self-employed. Rally participants shouted, "Politicians get off the stage," "Be quiet," "Are you here to campaign?" and some even uttered curses.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to provide 1 million KRW each as quarantine support funds to 3.2 million small business owners whose sales have decreased due to strengthened quarantine measures amid the spread of COVID-19, separate from loss compensation. In addition, to reduce the burden of quarantine supplies costs due to the expanded application of the quarantine pass, up to 100,000 KRW in-kind support will also be provided concurrently.

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