Baedal Minjok Prepares 30 Billion KRW Support Plan for Small Business Owners

140,000 Tenants' Advertising Fees for March-April... 50% Refund Up to 300,000 KRW Per Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Woowa Brothers, the operator of the delivery application (hereinafter referred to as app) 'Baedal Minjok,' announced on the 24th that it has prepared an emergency support plan worth 30 billion KRW for small business owners, including refunding part of the advertising fees for about 140,000 partner stores for March and April.

The measures announced by Woowa Brothers on this day consist of three main parts: ▲ Returning 50% (about 25 billion KRW) of advertising fees and commissions for March and April, up to a maximum of 300,000 KRW per business owner ▲ Providing meal coupons worth 3 billion KRW to socially vulnerable groups ▲ Supporting groceries worth 2 billion KRW for medical support teams and volunteers.

First, to support small business owners, they decided to refund half of the advertising fees for March and April, when the damage caused by COVID-19 became serious. The support amount per store was set at a maximum of 300,000 KRW. Accordingly, business owners will first receive 50% of the 'Ultracall' and 'Open List' usage fees for March, up to 150,000 KRW, refunded to their store accounts by the end of April. In April, 50% of the open service usage fees and Ultracall advertising fees, up to 150,000 KRW, will be refunded to their accounts around mid-May. Woowa Brothers explained that about 25 billion KRW will be deposited into the accounts of small business owners through this 50% support of advertising fees for March and April.

They will also support meals for socially vulnerable groups such as basic livelihood security recipients and people with disabilities. To this end, Woowa Brothers decided to donate 3 billion KRW to the Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation. This donation will be used to provide 600,000 Baemin coupons worth 5,000 KRW each. This amount is sufficient for 10,000 vulnerable people to have meals for 30 days. Baemin coupons will be provided to children struggling with meal preparation due to delayed school openings and people with disabilities who have difficulties preparing meals. Woowa Brothers ensured that restaurant owners will not be able to know whether customers used coupons intended for vulnerable groups when making payments.

Status of Baedal Minjok's COVID-19 Support Measures

They will also support groceries for medical staff and volunteers who are dedicated to COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Woowa Brothers decided to donate 2 billion KRW to the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association. This donation will be used to deliver groceries to medical staff and volunteers working hard on the front lines.

Separately, Woowa Brothers added that they are steadily implementing support measures for small business owners and riders announced immediately after the outbreak of COVID-19. According to the win-win agreement signed in February with the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business and the Korea Foodservice Industry Association, a fund worth 5 billion KRW is being used to repay 50% of the interest on policy fund loans received by small business owners in the foodservice industry. Woowa Brothers plan to extend the application deadline, which was until March, and fully use this fund by the end of the year. Additionally, according to the rider support measures announced last month, a policy is being implemented to provide livelihood compensation to riders who enter a two-week self-quarantine and cannot perform delivery work. The masks that were provided free of charge daily to riders are now supported as purchase costs after the policy changed to public distribution.

Kim Beom-jun, CEO of Woowa Brothers, said, "As the COVID-19 situation prolongs, not only small business owners but also consumers are facing difficulties. We hope that this emergency support plan will be of some help until we overcome COVID-19 and return to a stable daily life."

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