Dobong-gu Completes Swift Support for 465 Businesses with COVID-19 Closure Subsidies

On the 27th, 263 academies and private institutes received 1 million KRW each, totaling 263 million KRW in support... On the 27th, 202 karaoke rooms, PC rooms, and sports facilities received 1 million KRW each, totaling 202 million KRW in support... On the 28th, 15 million KRW will be pre-paid as instructor fees for community center cultural lectures.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Dobong-gu (Mayor Lee Dong-jin) swiftly provided 465 academies and multi-use facilities struggling due to COVID-19 with a total of 465 million KRW in business suspension support funds on the 27th.

Previously, during the period when high-intensity social distancing was implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections, the district recommended that multi-use facility businesses suspend operations for more than 14 days. To minimize the financial difficulties of self-employed individuals following this recommendation, it was decided to provide business suspension support funds.

A total of 465 businesses received the support funds, amounting to 465 million KRW. The funds were sourced from the Dobong-gu disaster management fund.

Emergency closure support for academies was accepted from April 6 to 10, and for karaoke rooms and similar facilities from April 1 to 3. A total of 263 academies and private tutoring centers and 202 multi-use facilities such as karaoke rooms, PC rooms, and sports facilities voluntarily suspended operations for more than 14 days between April 1 and April 20. Each business received 1 million KRW in support.

The academies and private tutoring centers participating in the suspension included △75 academies and △188 tutoring centers, totaling 263 locations. Among 642 target businesses in Dobong-gu, 40.9% voluntarily participated in the suspension, which is 22.3% higher than the 18.6% suspension rate of academies and tutoring centers across Seoul.

The district promptly paid a total of 263 million KRW in emergency suspension support funds of 1 million KRW each to these academies on April 27.

A total of 398 multi-use facilities such as karaoke rooms, PC rooms, and sports facilities participated in the suspension. Among the target businesses in the area, 50.7% voluntarily suspended operations, including △102 karaoke rooms, △15 PC rooms, and △85 sports facilities, totaling 202 locations. The district swiftly paid a total of 202 million KRW in emergency suspension support funds of 1 million KRW each to these businesses on the 24th.

In particular, the Dobong-gu Karaoke Association voluntarily decided to temporarily close for seven days from March 25 to March 31 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

As a result, about 160 karaoke rooms, accounting for 90% of karaoke rooms in Dobong-gu, participated in unpaid closures.

The district formed inspection teams composed of staff from the responsible departments to conduct day and night on-site inspections to verify the actual suspension status of academies and multi-use facilities that applied for the suspension support funds.

Furthermore, as social distancing in daily life is extended, the district plans to continue monitoring compliance with preventive measures until May 5.

Additionally, since February 5, all programs at the community centers have been completely suspended, causing livelihood difficulties for instructors. To support their stability, the district plans to prepay 15 million KRW in instructor fees to 53 program instructors on April 28. Instructors who wish to receive prepayment will be paid their fees in advance for three months from April to June.

Lee Dong-jin, Mayor of Dobong-gu, said, “The payment of business suspension support funds is a measure to minimize the damage to academies and multi-use facilities that actively participated in social distancing to overcome COVID-19. We thank the businesses for cooperating during these difficult times and hope this support will help stabilize their livelihoods even a little.”

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