Minister Personally Oversees Corporate 'U-Turn' Amid COVID-19

Chairman of Domestic Return Enterprise Support Committee, Head of Trade Negotiation Headquarters → Minister of Industry
Expansion of Support for U-Turn Target Industries, Strengthening Support Such as Special Cases for Use of National and Public Land
Tax Reduction and New Cooperative Models... "Full-Scale Promotion of Corporate U-Turn Attraction"

Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy./Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] From now on, the minister will be directly responsible for issues related to supporting domestic return companies (U-turn companies). The scope of companies eligible for U-turn support will also be expanded.

On the 10th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the revised "Act on Support for Domestic Return of Overseas-Expanded Companies (U-turn Act)" at the end of last year will be enforced starting from the 11th.

The support system for U-turn companies will be strengthened. The Domestic Return Company Support Committee, which was previously stipulated in the enforcement decree, will now be newly defined in the U-turn Act.

Minister Sung Yun-mo of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will serve as the chairperson. The previous chairperson was Yoo Myung-hee, Director-General for Trade Negotiations.

The positions of committee members will be elevated from senior officials of related ministries to vice ministers or deputy heads of related ministries.

The industries eligible for U-turn company support will expand from manufacturing to knowledge service industries and information and communication industries.

For knowledge service and information and communication industries, companies that have expanded their business premises or added production facilities without increasing the premises will all be recognized as expansions and can be selected and supported as U-turn companies.

For manufacturing, the establishment or expansion of domestic business sites will be judged based on new or expanded factories.

U-turn companies settling outside the metropolitan area will be able to lease national and public property for up to 50 years. Rent reductions and private contracts will also be permitted.

Accordingly, U-turn companies leasing national and public property will be subject to rent of at least 1% of the property value. They can receive rent reductions up to 50% after consultation with Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance.

Additionally, when paying for purchased national and public property, payment deadlines can be deferred for up to one year or paid in installments over up to 20 years.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced measures to expand support for attracting U-turn companies on the 20th of last month to strengthen the domestic supply chain in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has begun follow-up actions.

An official from the ministry said, "With the enforcement of the revised U-turn Act and the expanded support measures for attracting U-turn companies, we expect more companies to invest in returning to Korea."

He added, "We plan to significantly expand the U-turn desks within KOTRA overseas trade centers from 12 to 36, designate officers in charge, and strengthen cooperation with local support groups to actively engage in attraction activities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.