Seoul City Provides Up to 5 Million KRW Low-Interest Loans to 'Nonprofit Public Interest Activists'

First Joint Cooperation Case Between Local Governments and Private Labor-Management Funds for Public Activists
Special Loans at 3% Annual Interest Rate for Up to 3 Years... Total Scale of 1.395 Billion Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Seoul City will be the first local government to provide up to 5 million KRW per public interest activist from mid-next month, with an annual interest rate within 3% for up to 3 years.

On the 29th at 4 p.m., Seoul City announced that it will sign a special loan agreement to support public interest activists of non-profit organizations with four institutions including the Public Coexistence Solidarity Fund, the Financial Industry Public Interest Foundation, the Office and Finance Ubuntu Foundation, the Jeon Tae-il Foundation, project executing organizations, and the public interest activist social cooperative 'Donghaeng' at the Seoul City Hall conference room.

Public interest activists refer to people who work with the public interest purpose of solving social problems arising in various fields such as housing, environment, and labor, not for profit.

The operating fund for the loan project prepared by Seoul City for them totals 1.395 billion KRW, with Seoul City contributing 860 million KRW and the labor-management fund unit (Public Coexistence Solidarity Fund, Financial Industry Public Interest Foundation, Office and Finance Ubuntu Foundation, Jeon Tae-il Foundation) contributing 535 million KRW to establish and operate the fund.

The city explained that this support measure was prepared because public interest activists are experiencing economic difficulties due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to reduced activities and finances of non-profit organizations, while being in a blind spot of government and local government support. In particular, this support is more meaningful as it is the first time to implement loans for public interest activists in cooperation with the labor-management fund unit, which was jointly created for coexistence and solidarity between labor and management.

After signing the agreement, the executing organizations will provide loans starting from mid-October to public interest activists working in social economy enterprises or non-profit organizations for purposes such as purchasing materials and living expenses, with up to 5 million KRW per person, for up to 3 years, at an interest rate within 3% per annum. For more details, inquiries can be made to the social cooperative Donghaeng.

Kim Woo-young, Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs of Seoul City, said, "This loan project is a business that considers both the economic value of stable and sustainable fund management and the social value of supporting financial blind spots," adding, "It will serve as a foundation for strengthening the social safety net for public interest activists as well as for the continuous execution of public interest activities."

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