Self-Employed Association Files Class Action Lawsuit for Retroactive Application of Loss Compensation

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[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] Self-employed individuals affected by the government's COVID-19 quarantine measures have filed a class-action lawsuit demanding retroactive application of loss compensation.

At 10 a.m. on the 4th, the Korea Federation of Self-Employed COVID Victims (Koja Federation) announced that it had submitted the first complaint for the class-action lawsuit on self-employed loss compensation. Koja Federation is a civic group composed of self-employed individuals, including the Korea Central Association of Entertainment Food Service and the Korea Central Association of Rest Food Service. The lawsuit is being represented by the law firms Hwanghae, Jipyung, and Won.

About 2,000 of the 10,000 members registered on the class-action site "Angry Self-Employed" who specifically disclosed their estimated losses participated in this lawsuit. The total estimated loss amount of these participants is approximately 161.5 billion KRW, and if they win, each person will receive an average compensation of about 80.77 million KRW. The remaining members plan to join the class-action lawsuit once their estimated losses are calculated. Koja Federation stated that through campaigns, they aim to encourage up to about 200,000 people to participate in the class-action lawsuit.

The self-employed are demanding retroactive compensation for losses incurred due to the government's assembly ban orders from April 2020 to July of last year. Previously, when the government amended the Small Business Act on July 7 of last year, losses incurred by self-employed individuals before the amendment date were excluded from compensation.

Koja Federation stated, "Article 2 of the Supplementary Provisions of the Small Business Act, which excludes retroactive compensation, is unconstitutional," and added, "We will continue to fight to ensure that the criteria for loss compensation payments comply with the constitutional principle of just compensation."

Park Sung-min, president of the Korea Federation of Self-Employed and Small Businesses, who was reported to the Seoul Jongno District Office the day before on charges of violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, said, "If government officials had at least gone through a process of persuading the self-employed, we might have understood," and added, "We will represent the self-employed who suffered losses until the end."

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