Itaewon Businesses Suffer from False Korean Media Narrative
It looks like it is not a good time to be an Itaewon business owner:
COVID-19 has done no favors to food and beverage businesses since the initial outbreak in Daegu months ago, but many restaurants continue to open as they find themselves in a catch-22. They won’t survive if they don’t open ― but if they do, they have to just hope they aren’t visited by an infected patient which puts them on the map.
The government has done an amazing and internationally touted job with its test-and-trace program to keep residents informed but it has some pitfalls, as businesses in Itaewon have learned.
“While I appreciate and applaud the efforts made by the Korean government to mitigate and curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the country,” explained Juweon Kim, cofounder and CEO of Vatos Urban Tacos in Itaewon, “I think what we have experienced in Itaewon is one of the negative consequences of the very public track-and-trace methods being employed by the government. Itaewon served as the low-hanging fruit for the 24-hour news cycle during a period when the news cycle was slowing down for COVID-19-related stories.” (……..)Residents around Korea need to be vigilant and take precautions as the pandemic continues to spread, but according to Juweon there has been “a mischaracterization by the media to make Itaewon sound like it’s the epicenter of the spread and it’s where there’s a high concentration of COVID-19 infections. This false narrative must change.”
Korea Times
Despite the government-released data that showed patient zero came from Yongin and the majority of the infected do not live or work in Itaewon, the media quickly labeled the uptick the “Itaewon cluster” and turned the once-popular district into a ghost town.
You can read more at the link.
CCP virus just anther tool for commie moon to use to wreck South Korea.
This destruction of non-halal businesses allow an actual sharia zone where many used to play.
Pooh-pooh the idea if you must; but who will snap up the buildings and land around the mosque as traditional businesses are forced to sell?
I can’t imagine the Halal Street planners enjoyed all of the bars and hostess clubs. Devout Muslims do not drink alcohol; and they certainly don’t want their wives and daughters meeting inibriated kafrs on their way between drinking establishments.
Not sure whether Seoul Government thought this one all the way through…
Speaking of areas that have a checkered past that have been most affected by the #WuhanVirus, the Walking Street (the area with go-go bars), in Angeles City, PH has been completely closed off since mid-March when the quarantines started. Only denizens of this infamous strip are allowed entrance (i.e., you can’t use it as a shortcut to get to upper Perimeter Road). Even though the lock down has been eased in most places in the Philippines to include only social distancing and the mandatory wearing of masks, the Walking Street remains shuttered and banned from traffic of any kind.
The Angeles city government has been trying since 1992 to shutter this area and now it seems that they have found the perfect solution. By keeping the area until quarantine, Businesses that once thrived on tourist money are now without any income to pay rents (since a lot of the places are leased by foreigners), pay workers (they’ve sent the girls back to their provinces), or to even do basic maintenance on the establishments, which means the buildings that were never anything more than death traps waiting to happen, are deteriorating at an even faster rate. Even though the area is dotted with eateries and hotels as well as the bars, a strict lock down remains in effect, so all businesses suffer.
It will not surprise me when this pandemic ceases that Walking Street will finally cease to exist. The shift will come to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand for partying int Asia. Sorry for the long diatribe but I thought some of the older ROK Droppers would be interested..
This looks like manipulation by those who control the media.
– make the situation look hopeless for a couple of years
– drive down property prices of prime real estate
– buy at a discout
– media announces Seoul’s reinvigorated hot spot