This photo shows a nearly empty street in the downtown of the southern city of of Gwangju on Dec. 26, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 25 (Korea Bizwire) — The government is on track to make it easier for commercial tenants who shut down their business due to the COVID-19 pandemic to cancel their rent contracts.
The Ministry of Justice issued an advance legislation notice concerning a revision of the Commercial Building Tenant Protection Act.
The revision stipulates that commercial tenants facing bans or restrictions on private gatherings for more than three months due to infectious disease like coronavirus can cancel their rent contracts if they file for business shutdown.
The contract cancellation takes effect three months after the tenants notify the landlords that they are exercising the cancellation right.
In other words, if tenants exercise the contract cancellation right at the same time when they file for business shutdown, they can cancel the contract simply after paying monthly rent for three months.
After collecting opinions from related agencies and various sectors during the 40-day pre-announcement period, the ministry plans to submit the legislation to the National Assembly.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
