People exercise on treadmills at a gym in Seoul on April 21, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — A number of fitness and pilates clubs in South Korea are taking a collective action to protest against the government’s latest decision to extend the Level 2.5 social distancing period by two additional weeks.
During the extended period, fitness and pilates clubs will have to remain closed. Nonetheless, some are opening or preparing to open.
Some fitness clubs claim that the government’s social distancing guidelines lack a sense of equality since they apply different standards on other types of indoor fitness facilities.
To express their anger against the government’s decision, some fitness clubs are taking a collective action in the format of ‘club opening.’
An online community for gym owners has been inundated with an increasing number of comments supporting the ‘club opening’ collective action.
Oh Seong-young, head of the National Fitness Club Owner Association and operator of his own fitness club in Pocheon, Gyeonggi province, said he opened the club normally again while complying with the disinfection guidelines.
There are even some cases in which fitness clubs resumed only one-on-one personal training (PT) in secret to avoid the surveillance of health authorities.
A fitness club in Gangbuk District, Seoul started offering PT classes on the basis of personal appointments with its PT members. The fitness club opens only during the day, and keeps the lights turned off to maintain the appearance of being closed.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
