‘Candlelight Vigils Cause Nearly W2 Tril. in Losses’

The Korea Economic Research Institute said yesterday that two months of candlelight protests have caused losses to the country of 1.92 trillion won (1.86 billion U.S. dollars), or more than 0.2 percent of GDP.

In the report “The Social Costs of the Candlelight Protests” released yesterday, the think tank said, “As the candlelight protests get prolonged and turn illegal, damage to unrelated innocent people has snowballed. For example, the protest has interfered with the rights to pass and business of residents and merchants in central Seoul. Worse, it has tarnished Korea’s national image. In sum, the protest has caused enormous losses.”

The macroeconomic cost resulting from social instability was 1.35 trillion won and the estimated cost resulting from delayed public reform was 570.8 billion won.

The amount of direct damage was 668.5 billion won -- 574.4 billion won in unrelated people’s losses including operating losses by merchants whose stores are in the vicinity of Seoul Plaza and ad losses at dailies; 58.5 billion won in public expenses including the cost of mobilizing riot guards; and 35.6 billion won in production losses resulting from the general strike of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions.

The report analyzed 1,736 candlelight protests held across the nation from May 2 to July 1.

“If the protest continues for more than a year, the country’s losses will exceed seven trillion won,” the report said. “Also, Korea could find it hard to become an advanced nation if its national image is tarred due to the protests.”

abc@donga.com