[Photo] Dongdaemun-gu and Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation Sign Business Agreement for Contribution to Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund

At the business agreement ceremony for the contribution of the Small and Medium Business Development Fund held on the 14th between Dongdaemun-gu and the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu (third from the left), and Han Jong-gwan, Chairman of the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation (third from the right), along with other officials, are posing for a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor You Deok-yeol) is expanding the ‘Special Credit Guarantee Loan Support’ to provide emergency management funds to small businesses and small merchants in the area who are experiencing financial difficulties due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 14th at 1:50 PM, the district signed a business agreement with the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation at the Dongdaemun-gu Office Mayor’s Office to resolve the financial difficulties of small merchants who have difficulty applying for loans at commercial banks due to lack of collateral.

Eight officials attended the signing ceremony, including You Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, Han Jong-gwan, Chairman of the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, Lim Kwang-soo, Head of the Eastern Regional Headquarters of the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, Eom Chang-seok, Executive Director of the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, and Kwon Seong-woo, Branch Manager of the Dongdaemun Branch of the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation.

Through this agreement, the district secured a contribution fund of 500 million KRW and can utilize a total guarantee fund of 7.5 billion KRW, which is 15 times the contribution amount.

The loan guarantee operated with the special contribution fund has a guarantee rate of 0.8% per annum, which is 0.2% lower than the existing guarantee rate, and the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation provides full credit guarantees for the guaranteed amount. The loan interest rate is also 1.03% to 1.53% when linked with Seoul city support funds, which is about 0.8 to 1.3 percentage points cheaper, and low-interest loans using government policy funds are also available.

The special credit guarantee loan support targets small businesses and small merchants who have registered their business for more than three months. After prior consultation at the Dongdaemun Branch of the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, the process proceeds as follows: loan application and submission → recommendation letter sent from Dongdaemun-gu Office Economic Promotion Division to the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation → credit investigation and business site visit by the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation → support is provided through notification of guarantee approval to the applicant company and bank based on the visit investigation and guarantee review results.

You Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, stated, “I hope that small merchants can overcome urgent financial difficulties by receiving low-interest loans through special guarantees during these difficult times caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, and we will continue to prepare various policies for small merchants in the future.”

Dongdaemun-gu has prepared 11.2 billion KRW in small and medium enterprise development funds this year to support loans for local small and medium enterprises and small merchants. So far, a total of 810 places have been supported with 10.648 billion KRW. In addition, for small merchants in the area who have difficulty obtaining credit loans, a loan support project is underway that supports interest for one year at a fixed annual interest rate of 1.5% up to 10 million KRW per company until funds are exhausted.

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