A television debate was held on the night of the 21st by candidates for the South Korean presidential election, which will be voted on the 9th of next month, and there was a debate over support for self-employed people who have been hit by the new coronavirus.

The television debate was to take place three times during the official campaign, which began on the 15th last week, and the first night of the 21st was attended by four candidates from major political parties on the theme of the economy. ..



In South Korea, the number of new infections of the new coronavirus per day continues to be high at about 100,000.



Under these circumstances, Lee Jae-myung, a candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea, an innovative ruling party, said, "The government must take responsibility for measures against self-employed people such as restaurants that have been hit by the corona. , 100% compensation for losses. "



On the other hand, Yoon Seok-you, the candidate for the largest conservative opposition, “People Power Party,” said, “To ensure financial soundness, the government needs prompt support for self-employed people. Must pay a lot of attention. "



On the other hand, at the debate, there were many scenes in which Candidate Lee and Candidate Yun, who are competing for the approval ratings of various polls, argue over their past remarks and suspicions raised by themselves.



Two more debates are scheduled, with the theme of politics on the 25th of this month and society on the 2nd of next month.

Voices complaining of predicament among Korean self-employed people

In Myeong-dong, which is located in the center of Seoul, South Korea, there were many cosmetic stores and clothing stores in front of Corona, but now that foreign tourists including Japanese people have almost stopped visiting, it is vacant. The stores stand out.



According to a local real estate service provider, the vacancy rate of tenants in Myeongdong was 49.9% in the fourth quarter of last year, more than double that of other downtown areas in Seoul.



Under these circumstances, there are a number of self-employed people complaining about their predicament, partly because regulations such as shortened business hours continue intermittently at restaurants due to the corona.



Ji E-kyung (Sir Ike), who has been running a cafeteria for eight years, has dramatically reduced daily sales to 10% of what it was before Corona, reducing the number of employees from four to one in the last two years. rice field.



Mr. Ji said, "Corona will not disappear even if we do business in a short time. I think it is better to leave it to the infection control of each store. The current government has only wrong policies," said Mun Jae-in (Moon Jae-in). I complained about the administration's infection control measures.



He then said, "I want the next president to proceed with the policy while emphasizing the opinions of experts."