ENT. FACILITY OWNERS’ PROTEST

[Anchor Lead]

Now owners of entertainment establishments like bars and nightclubs have taken their protest out to the streets. They demanded that the gathering ban be removed and that their businesses be allowed to operate normally. They planned on holding a vehicle protest to Cheong Wa Dae but the plan was aborted by the police. As their vehicle protest turned into a vehicle assembly, the business owners even got into a scuffle with police officers.

[Pkg]

​Vehicles are spotted parked along the streets of Yeouido. These cars belong to the owners of bars and nightclubs who came out to protest the social gathering ban, and urge for its removal. Some signs read that the disease control measures have failed for forcing only sacrifice on these business owners. They were planning a vehicle protest that would've began in front of the National Assembly and proceeded all the way to Cheong Wa Dae. More than 1,000 vehicles were expected to join the protest, but most were stopped at police checkpoints. The business owners ended up holding a protest in front of the National Assembly building instead of a drive-by protest.

[Soundbite] Choi Won-bong(Secretary-General, Central Council of Nightspot Biz) : "Korea has become a country that completely ignores and excludes our assets with a forced gathering ban. I can’t understand why authorities insist only on the gathering ban."

Business owners who attempted to address the crowd on the stage got into a scuffle with the police when the officers tried to stop them.

[Soundbite] "You’re going to get hurt! Step back!"

Bar and club owners cried that they’re pushed to the limit as their businesses have been ordered to close for too long since the outbreak of the pandemic. They blasted authorities for forcing only their establishments to make sacrifices and not doing anything to crack down on the businesses that operate illegally.

[Soundbite] Park Myeong-geun(Bar owner) : "I own a legitimate place of business. Everyone here does. The only bars that are open now are restaurants doing illegal business. But they’re not regulated at all."

These business owners said they will stage another protest if the government doesn’t present any tangible measures soon. The police plan to analyze the evidence and determine whether the protest organizers and participants violated the Assembly and Demonstration Act.