Gyeongbuk Province Provides 115.1 Billion KRW Special Support to 183,000 Small Business Owners

100 Million KRW for Disaster Management Areas in Gyeongsan, Cheongdo, and Bonghwa... 500,000 KRW for the Other 20 Cities and Counties

Gyeongbuk Governor Lee Cheol-woo held a meeting on the 8th at the provincial office conference room, inviting leading experts in the economic field to discuss measures for economic revitalization after the COVID-19 pandemic.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Gyeongsangbuk-do announced on the 13th that it will provide management stabilization funds to local small business owners facing an unprecedented crisis due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

First, for 20,994 small business owners in three areas?Gyeongsan City, Cheongdo County, and Bonghwa County?declared special disaster zones due to COVID-19 damage on March 15, up to 1 million KRW per store will be supported. For the remaining 162,882 small business owners in 20 other cities and counties, 500,000 KRW will be provided each, with plans for additional support by each city and county based on financial conditions and central government guidelines.

The total support amount is approximately 115.1 billion KRW, sourced from Gyeongbuk Province’s disaster management fund, central government disaster response funds, and city and county budgets. The support targets about 183,000 small business owners identified in the 2017 Statistics Korea data, who operate businesses with fewer than 10 employees in manufacturing (including mining), construction, transportation, and other sectors with fewer than 5 employees, residing and operating in the respective cities and counties.

Since the first confirmed COVID-19 case in the province on February 19, building closures, self-quarantine, and expanded telecommuting have increased, leading residents to avoid going out. Coupled with the extension of the "social distancing" campaign, the difficulties faced by small business owners have intensified, prompting this extraordinary measure, according to Gyeongbuk Province.

Gyeongbuk Province also plans to soon implement a small business card fee support project (24 billion KRW), secured through a supplementary budget on the 30th of last month, and is currently preparing detailed support plans in cooperation with cities and counties.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do, stated, "We can no longer stand by as local small business owners collapse, so we have decided to provide direct and practical financial support such as economic recovery assistance. We will prioritize addressing the hardships of small business owners in despair and continuously promote local commercial revitalization along with consumption and sales to overcome the economic crisis."

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