<Anchor> The



government has come up with additional measures, but this time, the self-employed and small business owners were excluded from the support.

Because of this, owners of restaurants and public baths who need to use a lot of gas say they are at a loss.

Also, the reduced gas fee this time may be another reason for raising the gas fee next time.



Reporter Kim Gwan-jin pointed out this.



<Reporter>



Park Young-hee, who runs a tofu shop in the market, sighs naturally at the high heating bill.



In her little room attached to her shop, she can't even turn off the heat as she cares for her dementia-stricken husband.



[Park Young-hee/Tofu shop operation: It's a bit difficult to just eat and live with this.

I think it was 200,000 won more.

I don't use it much these days, but there are so many of them...

.]



When the self-employed and small business owners were not included in the list of additional support for heating costs, market merchants were in tears.



[Hong Mi-hyun/Restaurant management: How to hold on, I really can't say how to do this.

Go crazy, go crazy now.

If you put so much on it, how can a real self-employed person live without it?]



Not only restaurants, but also public baths and welfare facilities that use a lot of gas have seen a surge in burden, but they were not eligible for support.



The subject of the subsidy is also controversial.



It is a method of discounting the gas fee rather than directly giving money, and KOGAS bears the burden.



The Ministry of Industry explained, “In the first support measures, such as expanding energy vouchers, a budget of 180 billion won was set, including reserve funds, but this time, KOGAS bears the discount as operating costs without a separate budget.”



The burden on KOGAS is about 300 billion won.



However, if the finances of KOGAS, which already has a deficit of 9 trillion won, become more difficult, the discount will inevitably be reflected in the gas rate hike.



In the end, the heating bills of the underprivileged are solved by other citizens paying more, so voices of dissatisfaction may arise if the target of support is not thickened.



(Video coverage: Park Hyeon-cheol, Video editing: Hwang Ji-young)



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