{"id":1199545,"date":"2022-01-08T10:34:49","date_gmt":"2022-01-08T15:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1199545"},"modified":"2022-01-08T10:35:01","modified_gmt":"2022-01-08T15:35:01","slug":"south-korea-businesses-light-up-shops-all-night-to-protest-virus-curfew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-korea-businesses-light-up-shops-all-night-to-protest-virus-curfew\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea: Businesses Light Up Shops All Night to Protest Virus Curfew"},"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\">24<\/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-businesses-light-up-shops-all-night-to-protest-virus-curfew%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=1199545&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--><p class=\"subheading\">Several small business owners in the South Korean national capital of Seoul left their shop lights on all night on Thursday to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20220107004700315?section=national\/national\">protest<\/a>&nbsp;a state-mandated coronavirus curfew ordering small businesses nationwide, such as cafes and restaurants, to close by 9:00 p.m. each night, South Korea\u2019s Yonhap News Agency reported Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSmall bistros lining the Baekhack traditional marketplace in central Seoul, and restaurants and food vendors on a food street near Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul were among the participants in the so-called lighting protest,\u201d Yonhap observed of the demonstration.<\/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>The collective light display lasted from 9:01 p.m. on January 6 through the early morning hours of January 7.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProtesting business owners did not accept customers after the 9 p.m. curfew but left their empty stores and neon signs ablaze with light well past midnight,\u201d Yonhap noted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an expression of our will and wish to stay open and do business,\u201d Cho Ji-hyun told Yonhap on January 7.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Cho represents an emergency association of small businesses in South Korea negatively impacted by the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. She said the coronavirus curfew \u201cas well as the vaccine pass program in place are putting the burden of virus prevention on small business owners.\u201d Cho called on South Korea\u2019s federal government to \u201cwithdraw\u201d or \u201crevise\u201d the current coronavirus-related restrictions on small businesses in the national capital and nationwide.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19217314\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1236901342-e1640134124670.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19217314\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1236901342-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"A staff member (R) wearing protective equipment guides a traveller at the arrival hall of Incheon International Airport on November 30, 2021, amid growing concerns about the Omicron Covid-19 variant. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je \/ AFP) (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE\/AFP via Getty Images)\" width=\"641\" height=\"427\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A staff member wearing protective equipment guides a traveler at the arrival hall of Incheon International Airport on November 30, 2021, amid growing concerns about the Omicron Covid-19 variant. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Cho\u2019s association \u2014 officially named the \u201cNational Emergency Association of Small Business Against COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus]\u201d \u2014 warned on January 7 it would seek \u201cstronger collective action\u201d if Seoul chooses to further extend the current business limitations. About 300 members of the association <a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20211222006451315\">protested<\/a> the small business curfew in an authorized rally in central Seoul\u2019s&nbsp;Gwanghwamun Square on December 22, 2021.<\/p>\n<p>The coronavirus-related restrictions currently in place across South Korea came into effect on December 18, 2021, and were originally <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2021\/12\/21\/south-korea-small-business-owners-protest-state-mandated-curfews\/\">slated<\/a> to last through January 2, 2022. Seoul on December 31, 2021, announced it would <a href=\"http:\/\/www.koreaherald.com\/view.php?ud=20211231000071\">extend<\/a> the \u201csocial distancing\u201d measures \u2014 which also limit the number of patrons allowed to frequent shops and restaurants to just four \u201cfully vaccinated\u201d people at a time \u2014 through at least January 16. The restrictions also apply to private gatherings in South Korea. According to the strict mandate, private gatherings may include no more than four people, all of whom must have received a full series of a Chinese coronavirus vaccination.<\/p>\n<p>South Korea\u2019s federal government <a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20211213005851315\">imposed<\/a> a coronavirus \u201cvaccine passport\u201d system on its citizens on December 13, 2021. The system requires \u201call visitors to cafes and restaurants to present a certificate proving they have completed their COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] vaccination or tested negative,\u201d according to Yonhap.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBusinesses can be fined 1.5 million won (US$1,270) or suspended from operating for 10 days if they fail to abide by the vaccine pass system,\u201d the news agency reported. \u201cIndividual violators can face a fine of 100,000 won each time they violate the system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The South Korean federal government extended this \u201cvaccine passport\u201d system to large department stores on January 10, 2022.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarting from Jan. 10, those without the proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] test result cannot shop at big box and department stores measuring 3,000 square meters or more,\u201d the <em>Korea Herald<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20220105000600320\">noted<\/a> in an editorial critical of the new system on January 5.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven those who want to shop alone to buy groceries cannot access over 2,000 discount and department stores under the revised rules,\u201d according to the newspaper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several small business owners in the South Korean national capital of Seoul left their shop lights on all night on Thursday to protest\u00a0a state-mandated coronavirus curfew ordering small businesses nationwide, &#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-1199545","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\/1199545","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=1199545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199545\/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=1199545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1199545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1199545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}