The owner of a tuna restaurant in Gwangju put up a large banner outside his establishment reading “Free Food and Drinks on the Day Park Gets Indicted”. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – An increasing number of private businesses including restaurants, stores, and hotels have begun hanging up banners calling for embattled South Korean President Park Geun-Hye to step down, with some even offering goods or services for free or at big discounts.
The owner of a tuna restaurant in Gwangju put up a large banner outside his establishment reading “Free Food and Drinks on the Day Park Gets Indicted”.
According to the restaurant’s owner, whose identity was withheld, despite not placing much faith in politicians himself, he was angered by the fact that an elected official was “busy looking after her confidante, unable to resolve important national matters, and ignoring the right of the people to be informed (of the truth)”.
“The same goes for her third official statement (related to the scandal) on November 29,” he added. “The president needs to act responsibly especially in the face of nationwide rage. But instead she decided to leave the matter of her tenure to the parliament, which was not the most mature decision as a president.”
Several of the shops on Gwangju’s Geumnam-ro Street, the city’s most popular site for mass rallies during times of national crisis, have banded together to support the protesters, hanging up posters and using their neon signs to display anti-Park slogans.
One of the cafés on the street has even been offering 1,000-won ($0.85) discounts on tea on rally nights to better serve the protesters as the weather is now growing cold.
“As part of the generation who experienced the May 18 Democratic Uprising in Gwangju (1980), I fully support the citizen movement to try to correct a clearly impaired society, even if it means that my business has to suffer,” said the owner.
The passage starts off by saying, “We believed that we would be credited for doing our best, and accomplish our dreams with efforts; this no longer seems so,” referring to the deep social problems unveiled by the political scandal, and the illicit benefits that President Park’s confidante Choi Soon-sil and her family reveled in. (image: Yonhap)
A clothing outlet also located on the street displayed a massive yellow poster with a text entitled “We Were Not Asking for Much”.
The passage starts off by saying, “We believed that we would be credited for doing our best, and accomplish our dreams with efforts; this no longer seems so,” referring to the deep social problems unveiled by the political scandal, and the illicit benefits that President Park’s confidante Choi Soon-sil and her family reveled in.
The writer concludes with, “They think we will forget if they can hold out a while. But no. As long as we stand, this day will be remembered from mouth to mouth, and from writing to writing,” asserting that the rage of the people will persist.
Venues in other cities have expressed a similar refrain.
A business hotel in Busan recently pledged free rooms on the day that President Park steps down, while a seafood restaurant in Ulsan hung an anti-Park poster promising to sell alcohol at production cost until the president resigns.
A restaurant in Daejeon raised a banner two weeks ago that reads “We want to live fairly, regardless of our social status,” offering free soju on November 25, the day before the fourth nationwide rally, whereas another Korean barbeque restaurant in the area promised free meals for everyone on the day of the president’s resignation, and for participants of ongoing candlelight rallies.
By Joseph Shin (jss539@koreabizwire.com)
