The government has extended a strengthened social distancing scheme until Jan. 17, but the details of the guidelines have triggered a controversy over its fairness -- which businesses can remain open and which cannot.

The backlash from affected small business owners is spreading in the form of demonstrations as operators ask the government why they are the only ones suffering. “Why just us?” the demonstrators chanted. 

The protesting business owners claimed that the quarantine burden is largely concentrated on specific industries, but there are no government-level support measures to help address these problems.

A group of pubs and PC cafes business owners have gone further and filed a constitutional appeal on Tuesday, saying that the Infectious Disease Prevention Act and the local governments' notices violated their property and equality rights as there were no grounds for compensation regarding their losses due to the business interruption.

Under the latest guideline, small private educational institutes, such as cram schools, taekwondo and ballet academies, can resume operations as long as they limit the number of attendees to fewer than 10. Ski resorts can also continue business if they restrict visitors to less than one-third of their usual capacity.

However, some sports facilities, such as gyms, indoor golf practice ranges and billiard rooms, should remain closed as some of them were once hot pots.

"We allowed the operation of taekwondo studios as an exception because they mainly serve children and students and offer a kind of childcare service while their parents are at work," Ministry of Health and Welfare Spokesperson Son Young-rae said.

Besides, ballet academies are regarded as learning academies, not indoor sports facilities, under the current law, he added, revealing a somewhat arbitrary process in the ministry’s decision.

As expected, Son's explanation has triggered criticism among fitness club owners and workers who questioned the government's standards' fairness.

"The government's standards for prohibiting businesses are arbitrary and ambiguous," Kim Jin-kyung, a fitness instructor, told Korea Biomedical Review. "There are no differences between the facilities that are allowed to open and those that are not as their purposes are to help people to stay fit."

A petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website calls for the government to come up with equitable social distancing guidelines for the fitness center.
A petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website calls for the government to come up with equitable social distancing guidelines for the fitness center.

Many fitness centers are closing down due to financial burdens, and instructors at such facilities have been driven out of a job, she added.

Cho Byung-chul, a fitness club owner, also said, "We have been closed for almost a month since the government ordered fitness facilities to close down shop on Dec. 8. Now, I am considering closing down the business for good as I have depleted all of my savings and had to take out bank loans to stay afloat."

A petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website calls for the government to come up with equitable social distancing guidelines for the fitness center.

The Pilates and Fitness Business Association (PIBA) recently submitted a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website.

The petition proposed effective and equitable policies by, for instance, reconsidering the criteria of high-risk facilities among indoor sports centers, preparing active damage compensation and realistic funding policies, guaranteeing support for employees, such as fitness instructors, and applying fair quarantine guidelines.

"Currently, the quarantine policy for indoor sports facilities is one-dimensional, and there are no common standards," the association said. "Sports facility owners and instructors have become its victims. We are a minority who have little social influence, and our hardship is left unheard.”

The petition has received over 200,000 signatures as of Tuesday, reaching the minimum requirements to receive a response from related Cheong Wa Dae officials.

PIBA also filed a lawsuit against the government with the Seoul Southern District Court on Dec. 30, seeking compensation of 765 million won ($7 million)

The disgruntlement among fitness club owners reached a tipping point after an operator in Daegu took his life on Jan. 1, presumably due to economic hardship tied to the continued shutdown of his business. 

However, on Tuesday, the government refuted that the death might not be related to the Covid-19 epidemic as the deceased had operated a rehabilitation center for the disabled, which was not subjected to mandatory closure.

Some fitness center owners took collective action on Monday by reopening their facilities in defiance of quarantine rules.

"I have opened my fitness center and plan to follow all other quarantine guidelines," said Oh Seong-young, president of the National Fitness Center Directors' Association, on his Instagram page.

About 300 gyms under the Korea Fitness Manager Association (KFMA) also opened their businesses in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Busan to protest the government's uneven guidelines. Some citizens are known to have visited the facilities to exercise.

In response, some local governments have conducted on-site inspections. Under the current guideline, fitness owners should pay up to 3 million won ($2,760) in fine, while users of such facilities can also receive a fine of up to 100,000 won.

"In the event of a violation, we will issue a notice and impose a fine according to Infectious Disease Prevention Act," a Seoul Metropolitan Government official said. "If the violation persists, criminal charges are possible, and if the establishment produces a Covid-19 patient, we plan to proceed with a compensation claim."

Cafe owners have also started to express their dissatisfaction as they believe they are also unfairly treated under the current social distancing guidelines.

"Even though we followed the quarantine guidelines by asking our customers to wear masks indoors, the government's final decision was allowing only takeout services at cafes," a cafe owner wrote on a Cheong Wa Dae petition. "It is unfair why cafes are allowed to provide only takeout services while other industries can operate until 9:00 p.m."

There is also a group action movement. The National Cafe Owners Association, which has about 1,600 members, announced that they plan to hold a picket demonstration in front of the Second Government Complex to condemn the quarantine measures.

Some quarantine experts have also pointed out that the current guidelines are unfair as the Covid-19 outbreaks can occur anywhere when the three conditions of “close, closed and dense” are met. They noted that even facilities allowed to continue business had generated cluster infections in the past.

For example, group infections occurred at a ballet academy in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, in October, and at a ski resort in Pyeongchang, the 2018 Winter Olympics venue, in December.

The experts also pointed out that the government imposed the ban on winter sports facilities, including ski resorts, mainly to reduce movement during the year-end and New Year holidays, but now allow their reopening, saying they do not pose high infection risks as skiing is an outdoor activity.

"The government, while allowing ski resorts to open, has restricted eating at such resorts," said Professor Chun Eun-mi at Ewha Woman's University Medical Center said. "This can lead to crowding at restaurants nearby the ski resort, leading to group infections."

Such obscure regulations are confusing as the government's quarantine measures pour out without properly considering the actual situation, Professor Chun added.

In response to the growing public discontent, KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong said that she is well aware that the issue of equity between facilities is being raised in many fields and will work with the central government in addressing such problems.

"We suspended the business of indoor sports facilities because it is hard to wear masks in such facilities, and the possibility of droplet infection is high," she said. "The KCDA will discuss the issue of equity in social distancing with the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, and reexamine the distancing guidelines for each facility and industry."

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