Self-Employed Workers Hold Survival Rights Rally in Gwanghwamun: "We Are Also Citizens, Please Hear Our Voices" (Comprehensive)

Self-Employed Business Emergency Committee Survival Rights Rally on 22nd
Demanding Withdrawal of Quarantine Pass and Business Restriction Measures
Loud Arguments and Struggles with Police Outside the Fence
"If No Change After January 2, Nationwide General Uprising Will Occur"

On the 22nd, self-employed participants at the "Self-Employed General Rally" held at Gwanghwamun Citizen Open Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul, urged the suspension of business restrictions and the quarantine pass system, as well as compensation for losses. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Self-employed business owners held a rally as scheduled on the 22nd in downtown Seoul, urging the government to withdraw measures such as the vaccine pass and business restrictions.

The National Emergency Countermeasures Committee for the Self-Employed held a general rally condemning the government's quarantine policies at the Gwanghwamun Citizen's Open Square in Seoul from 3 p.m. that day. The rally lasted about two hours until 5 p.m. Although the organizers initially reported the rally with a scale of 299 participants, a much larger crowd gathered voluntarily at the venue.

The police surrounded the rally site and installed fences, so participants who were not included in the 299 people stayed outside the fences, watching the rally or wandering around the area. During the rally, some participants standing outside the fences shouted slogans in protest, leading to loud exchanges and disturbances. Such scuffles continued throughout the rally, but there were no major clashes. The police deployed about 800 officers from 14 units to manage the rally that day.

The Emergency Committee started the rally about 10 minutes later than scheduled, beginning with slogans such as "Police, guarantee peaceful protests," "Small business owners are also citizens. Guarantee the right to survive," and "Withdraw the vaccine pass." The committee also deployed 30 order maintenance personnel at the site to conduct QR code checks and temperature screenings. The rally was attended by self-employed business owners, representatives of various industry groups, as well as politicians including former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong, Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Seong-man, and Justice Party lawmaker Ryu Ho-jeong, who delivered speeches.

On the 22nd, self-employed individuals were waiting outside the venue due to assembly size restrictions at the 'Self-Employed General Rally' held at Gwanghwamun Citizen Open Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Oh Se-hee, president of the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprises, said in her opening remarks, "The COVID-19 crisis has shaken the economy of small business owners and self-employed people, and as the number of closures increases, those who cannot endure are being driven to extreme choices," adding, "Within just one month of implementing the vaccine pass, along with restrictions on the number of people and business hours, the right to survive of self-employed business owners is once again being threatened."

Kim Ki-hong, co-representative of the Emergency Committee, stated, "We gathered here because we feel we can no longer die," and insisted, "The government must abolish the vaccine pass and business hour restrictions and implement proper compensation for losses."

Co-representative Jo Ji-hyun also expressed, "Small business owners and the self-employed are citizens too. The government must listen to our voices so that there are no more sacrifices from self-employed business owners and small business owners."

When former Governor Won took the stage followed by Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Seong-man delivering a solidarity speech, some participants jeered "Get off the stage" and hurled harsh criticisms. After the rally, the Emergency Committee delivered a protest letter listing their demands to the government.

The Emergency Committee demands include ▲withdrawal of the vaccine pass ▲abolition of business restrictions without compensation ▲significant expansion of support funds for small business owners ▲revision of the enforcement decree of the Loss Compensation Act ▲opposition to the expansion of the Labor Standards Act to workplaces with fewer than five employees. If these demands are not met and the current quarantine policies are extended after January 2 next year, they plan to hold simultaneous nationwide rallies again and refuse to cooperate with the government's quarantine policies.

This rally marks the Emergency Committee's return to protests after about five months since the nationwide vehicle rallies held several times in July. After the vehicle rallies, the committee set up a memorial altar for self-employed business owners who took extreme measures and began a tent sit-in protest. They briefly paused collective actions starting from the phased recovery of daily life on the 1st of last month but resumed collective actions again following the government's announcement to strengthen social distancing measures.

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