{"id":1139463,"date":"2021-12-21T21:19:15","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T02:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1139463"},"modified":"2021-12-21T21:19:20","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T02:19:20","slug":"south-korea-small-business-owners-protest-state-mandated-curfews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-korea-small-business-owners-protest-state-mandated-curfews\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea: Small Business Owners Protest State-Mandated Curfews"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsouth-korea-small-business-owners-protest-state-mandated-curfews%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1139463&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1236901342-e1640134124670-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">An independent caf\u00e9 owner in the South Korean port city of Incheon announced plans on Tuesday to remain open 24 hours in the coming days to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20211221005900315?section=national\/national\">protest<\/a>&nbsp;state-mandated business curfews designed to curb Chinese coronavirus transmission, South Korea\u2019s Yonhap News Agency reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe plan to operate 24 hours despite the government imposed business restriction,\u201d the caf\u00e9 announced in a written notice posted to its front window on December 21.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe business explained its accumulated debt came to 1 billion won (US$840,000) in the past year and has to continue operating as normal due to the absence of government compensation,\u201d according to Yonhap.<\/p>\n<p>An online community of small merchants in South Korea shared a photo of the notice to its internet forum on Tuesday, where it garnered many supportive comments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore businesses need to join,\u201d one netizen wrote upon reading the cafe\u2019s protest plans.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe are in need of such courage,\u201d another online forum user wrote of the business\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<p>Incheon borders Seoul, South Korea\u2019s national capital, where an association of small merchants will gather on Wednesday&nbsp;to denounce the federal government\u2019s recent decision to impose restrictions on the operating hours of small businesses in an effort to reduce coronavirus transmission.<\/p>\n<p>South Korea\u2019s \u201cNational Emergency Association of Small Business Against COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus]\u201d told Yonhap on December 21 it plans to stage a rally on December 22 near central Seoul\u2019s Gwanghwamun Square.<\/p>\n<p>Small businesses owners, including caf\u00e9 and restaurant owners, will participate in the anti-curfew protest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe number of participants was set at 299 in line with the latest gathering restriction, and protesters will be screened for their vaccination statuses,\u201d the demonstration\u2019s organizers said Tuesday.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe will be able to know the actual number of participants on the day, as it is hard to estimate the number of participants volunteering to gather as of now,\u201d Lee Chang-ho, co-chairman of the \u201cNational Emergency Association of Small Business Against COVID-19,\u201d told Yonhap on December 21.<\/p>\n<p>South Korea\u2019s federal government announced on December 16 it would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2021\/12\/16\/coronavirus-south-korea-limits-private-gatherings-four-people\/\">reimpose<\/a> restrictions on gathering and business hours from December 18 through at least January 2 in response to the country\u2019s surging coronavirus caseload. The nationwide mandates include limits on private gatherings. Such gatherings may include no more than four people, all of whom must be fully vaccinated against the Chinese coronavirus. The measures have forced restaurants, cafes, and bars across South Korea to close by 9:00 pm each night.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cUnder the new measures \u2026 the use of restaurants and cafes will be restricted to up to four vaccinated people per visit,\u201d South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum <a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20211216001452315?section=national\/politics\">told<\/a> reporters at a press conference in Seoul on December 16.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose who have not been vaccinated [against the Chinese coronavirus] will be able to use the facilities alone or request take-out or delivery,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBars, nightclubs, and other entertainment venues will also be subject to the 9:00 p.m. curfew while movie theaters, concert halls, and internet cafes, however, will be able to operate until 10:00 p.m.,\u201d Prime Minister Kim said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>South Korea chose to limit business hours ahead of the winter holidays just six weeks after Seoul <a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20211025002300320\">announced<\/a> a scheme for the nation called \u201cliving with Covid [Chinese coronavirus],\u201d which saw the South Korean federal government ease previous curbs on restaurant hours and gathering sizes due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>A barbecue restaurant owner in Seoul named Lee Min-gyu <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/businesses-fret-south-korea-reimposes-covid-19-curfews-2021-12-21\/\">told<\/a> Reuters on December 21 he eagerly anticipated expanding his business hours through the winter holiday season after the national government began easing pandemic restrictions on November 1.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[W]hen restrictions were eased he hired more people and prepared a lot of ingredients in anticipation of a busy end to the year,\u201d Reuters reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, with the sudden change, all the ingredients are left unattended, and I have too many workers,\u201d Lee told the news agency.<\/p>\n<p>South Korea\u2019s federal government said it plans to pay 1 million won ($839 USD) to each small business owner in Seoul to help compensate them for the shortened hours, but this sum is simply \u201cnot enough,\u201d&nbsp;Lee told Reuters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The government payout \u201cis less than one part-time employee\u2019s monthly pay,\u201d according to the restaurant owner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An independent caf\u00e9 owner in the South Korean port city of Incheon announced plans on Tuesday to remain open 24 hours in the coming days to protest\u00a0state-mandated business curfews designed &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1139463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1139463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1139463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1139463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1139463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}