Self-employed people stage drive-through protests against COVID-19 restrictions
Angry self-employed workers staged late-night drive-through protests in Seoul and provincial cities nationwide until early Thursday.
They condemned health authorities for endangering their livelihoods in their drive to combat the Coronavirus (COVID-19) through tough social distancing restrictions.
An association of self-employed businesses, which organised the protest rallies, said at least 1,000 members participated in the drive-through events held in Seoul and nine other regions.
It included Busan, Gwangju and Daejeon, from 11 p.m. Wednesday until the wee hours of Thursday to call for eased COVID-19 restrictions and more compensation.
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It was the third time for the association to stage such car protests to demand the government relax COVID-19 restrictions and provided more compensation for financial losses stemming from the social distancing scheme that restricted operations of cafes, restaurants, gyms and karaoke rooms, among others.
In Seoul, hundreds of vehicles driven by association members gathered on the western section of Riverside North Road, near the Yanghwa Grand Bridge, beginning at 11 p.m.
Participants turned on their hazard lights and slowly moved, at a speed of 20 to 30 kph, toward the Hannam Grand Bridge on the central section of the road, in a show of protest.
While passing by the bridge, they honked their horns in line with a certain beat, saying it was an SOS signal.
The drive-through rally caused traffic congestion on the road.
“Self-employed workers incurred debts of over 66 trillion won (U.S.$56.4 billion) over the past 1 1/2 years, and as many as 453,000 shops went out of business,” an association official said.
“The COVID-19 fatality rate has fallen from the 3 per cent range to the 0.1 per cent level.
“But only self-employed people have been forced to bear the damage caused by (authorities’) failure to transform the quarantine system.
“We can’t stand the reality anymore,” the official said.
The participants complied with social distancing rules during the rallies, staying in their cars and leaving windows closed.
Seoul is currently under Level four social distancing rules, in which the assembly of more than one person is banned. Drive-through rallies are illegal if attended by over one participant, according to the police.
Seoul police said they regarded the drive-through rallies as violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and the Assembly and Demonstration Act and photographed the participating vehicles for possible punishments in the future.
Under new guidelines, up to six people are allowed to gather in the capital area if they include at least two vaccinated people during the daytime and four after 6 p.m.
Restaurants and cafes, for instance, have to close by 10 p.m. and were allowed to serve only takeout and delivery from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
