Support for 'Appointment Fee of Commercial Arbitration Agent'... Up to 15 Million KRW Limit

Korea Federation of SMEs and Korean Commercial Arbitration Board Sign MOU
Minimizing Dispute Damage for Small and Medium Enterprises

Headquarters of the Korea Federation of SMEs

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (Kbiz) announced on the 19th that it has signed a business agreement with the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) to support commercial arbitration for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

This agreement was established to minimize the damage caused by commercial disputes among SMEs due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The commercial arbitration system features ▲a single-instance system ▲the same effect as a final court judgment ▲and international enforceability.

Kbiz and KCAB plan to support SMEs in utilizing this system to resolve disputes. Starting from the 20th, they will recruit companies wishing to apply for support in commercial arbitration for SMEs.

The support targets SMEs or SME cooperatives affected by COVID-19. When appointing representatives such as lawyers, certified public accountants, tax accountants, patent attorneys, or customs brokers for arbitration applications to KCAB, up to 50% of the representative appointment costs will be supported within a maximum limit of 15 million KRW, depending on the arbitration application amount.

Companies wishing to apply must submit the required documents to Kbiz within 60 days from the arbitration application date. Even companies that appointed representatives and applied for arbitration before the support program's implementation date (August 20) can receive support if they apply within 60 days from the program's start date.

Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of Kbiz, stated, "Although commercial disputes have arisen due to the impact of COVID-19, SMEs that were marginalized due to the burden of legal responses and arbitration costs will be supported to actively respond to minimize damages. We will continue to prepare various support measures for SMEs affected by COVID-19."

Lee Howon, President of KCAB, said, "Many SMEs cannot utilize the arbitration system because they do not have internal legal teams such as in-house lawyers. If support for representative appointment costs is provided, SMEs will be able to respond through experts."

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