Hong Nam-ki: "Equal Support for Small Business Owners with Self-Owned Stores and Increased Sales in Restricted and Prohibited Sectors"

Briefing on Customized Damage Support Measures in Response to the 3rd Wave of COVID-19

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] On the 29th, Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, announced that cash support related to small business owners in industries subject to gathering bans and restrictions under the 'Tailored Damage Support Measures in Response to the 3rd Wave of COVID-19' will be provided equally regardless of whether they own their store or have experienced a decrease in sales.

At a briefing held at the Government Seoul Office on the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "For industries subject to gathering bans and restrictions, support will be provided regardless of sales because they cooperated with government quarantine measures and their actual business operations were restricted or prohibited." The same applies to 'building owner self-employed individuals.' He explained, "The government is providing 1 million won each, and additionally 1 million or 2 million won to restricted and prohibited industries respectively, to cover fixed costs including rent," adding, "We intend to provide the announced funds regardless of whether they own their store or not."

Regarding the background of this policy direction, he added, "While providing as much support as possible is one aspect, another purpose is to provide support quickly," and explained, "If we were to verify individually whether they own their store or check if sales have increased or not before providing support, the execution process would become too complicated."

Meanwhile, the government previously set two principles for supporting 2.8 million small business owners. Those in industries physically restricted by COVID-19, such as gathering ban industries (3 million won) and gathering restriction industries (2 million won), can receive support regardless of the scale of sales damage or rent burden. For general industries, they must have experienced a decrease in sales compared to last year and have annual sales of 400 million won or less to receive 1 million won. In this process, the government uses public data from the National Tax Service and the National Health Insurance Service to provide cash payments upon application without requiring supporting documents.

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