Warm Wind of Kindness Blows Through Pyeongtaek with 'Good Landlord Movement'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] As the local economy of Pyeongtaek faces stagnation due to COVID-19, a 'Good Landlord Movement' is gaining momentum in the city.

On the 4th, the city announced that following landlords in the southern region reducing rental fees, landlords in the northern region are also participating in rental fee reductions.

Kang Won-cheon, chairman of the Pyeongtaek Northern Organizations and Associations Council and building owner of Wonyoung Building in the center of Songtan Tourism Special Zone, reduced the March rental fees for 13 shops by 50%.

Yoon Myeong-soon, who operates a meat buffet restaurant at Sinjang Shopping Mall in front of the Songtan U.S. Military Base, also announced that she will reduce March rental fees for three shops by 30-40%.

Song Du-hak, chairman of the International Central Market Merchants Association who owns some 10 shops in Sinjang-dong and International Central Market, decided to waive all rental fees for this month and freeze rental fees for the contract period requested by tenants.

As a result, approximately 30 tenants have been relieved of their burden. The landlords said, "We understand the hardship of merchants struggling as customer traffic has sharply declined due to COVID-19, and we decided to participate believing that we can overcome this together by sharing."

Pyeongtaek Mayor Jung Jang-seon said, "We are grateful to the landlords who made difficult decisions," and added, "We will spare no effort in providing all necessary support to revitalize the local economy affected by COVID-19." He further urged, "We hope that many landlords will join the Good Landlord Movement."