Self-Employed Business Owners Say "Can't Endure Anymore"... Announce 24-Hour Operation at Jongno-gu Restaurant

Members of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business Owners held a ceremony to declare the start of 24-hour operations in front of Insaeng Hoejip in Gwancheol-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the night of the 25th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Some self-employed business owners have announced their intention to defy quarantine guidelines and proceed with 24-hour operations.

On the 25th at 10 PM, the Korea Self-Employed Small Business Federation held a press conference in front of a sashimi restaurant on the Youth Street in Jongno-gu, Jonggak, declaring the start of 24-hour operations. They stated, "We reject the curfew order banning operations after 10 PM that is killing self-employed business owners," adding, "We have endured hellish times for over two years while following the government's quarantine policies. However, the price of prioritizing public interest has been devastating."

At the press conference, the group said, "We are in a situation of economic bankruptcy where we can neither live nor die," and emphasized, "The government is trying to cover the damages we suffered over the past two years with a 3 million won quarantine support fund. We will no longer comply with the government's unilateral administrative orders without compensation." They also urged, "We resist public authority with the right to resist to protect our lives," and demanded, "The government must provide rightful compensation as stipulated by the constitution to self-employed business owners who have suffered damages and been driven to bankruptcy due to quarantine measures."

The Korea Self-Employed Small Business Federation is one of the 14 constituent organizations of the Korea Federation of COVID-19 Affected Self-Employed Business Owners (Koja-chong). This group was formed in response to self-employed business owners with annual sales exceeding 1 billion won being excluded from loss compensation, despite having faced the same operational restrictions as those with sales under 1 billion won under quarantine guidelines, and they have claimed that they have received no loss compensation or support.

Park Sung-min, representative of the Korea Self-Employed Small Business Federation, announced at the press conference held at the sashimi restaurant that the group would begin indefinite 24-hour operations starting that day, and said, "Fellow self-employed business owners plan to visit in support for three days until the 27th." However, around 11:20 PM, an official from the local district office who visited the store stated, "Despite various unfortunate circumstances, the vast majority of self-employed business owners are trying to comply with quarantine rules," and added, "If operations are forced ahead, we will have no choice but to take legal action."

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