Gwangju Seo-gu Provides 'Disaster Relief Funds' to Small Businesses and Micro-Entrepreneurs

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Seo Daeseok) will provide disaster relief funds to small businesses and small business owners struggling with management due to the COVID-19 gathering ban administrative measures.

This disaster relief fund was prepared to support small business owners who suffered business losses by participating in the gathering ban administrative order such as business suspension due to COVID-19, and to support religious facilities in purchasing quarantine supplies and establishing non-face-to-face online worship equipment.

The support targets are expected to include about 2,000 places in total: 8 categories announced by the government (karaoke bars, emotional pubs, hunting pubs, singing practice rooms, indoor group exercise, direct sales promotion centers such as door-to-door sales, buffets, PC rooms), 8 additional categories supported by Gwangju City (game rooms/arcades, performance halls, indoor sports facilities, youth training centers, bathhouses/saunas, multi-rooms/DVD rooms, entertainment pubs, clubs), and religious facilities.

The scale of the disaster relief fund is about 920 million KRW, secured through expenditure restructuring by adjusting various event and festival expenses and unnecessary business expenses.

The support amount is 500,000 KRW for small business owners and 300,000 KRW for religious facilities, and it can be received by businesses that registered, permitted, or reported their business location in Seo-gu and suspended operations during the gathering ban administrative order period.

However, businesses that closed before the gathering ban administrative order or violated the administrative order are excluded from the support scope.

Applications for the disaster relief fund can be submitted on the district office website until the 24th (first round), and the second round can be submitted online or in person from the 25th to the 8th of next month.

Applicants need to submit the application form, business registration certificate (religious organization registration certificate), and a copy of the bankbook.

The disaster relief fund will be paid on the 29th, before Chuseok, for first-round applicants, and on the 14th of next month for second-round online and in-person applicants.

Seo Daeseok, Mayor of Seo-gu, said, “In the situation of COVID-19 resurgence, the boundary between quarantine and economy is a matter of survival for some. We ask for understanding of the decision to provide disaster relief funds to businesses that bore the damage for the safety of neighbors rather than profit and survival, and strictly complied with the gathering ban order.”

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