Behind Small Business Owners' 'Miso' Was Their 'Buntu'

The Struggles of the Small Enterprise Market Promotion Corporation's COVID-19 Support Over the Past Year
"A Single Thank You Unraveled All Our Hardships"

Small business owners who lined up from late at night to receive a direct loan of 10 million won for 27 days starting March 25 last year. To assist them, employees of the Small Enterprise and Market Service had to start work at 3 a.m. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] There are people who helped small business owners suffering from COVID-19 receive support even a few hours earlier or to help one more person get assistance. They are the employees of the Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS), who had to endure the anger of merchants who complained about not getting loans despite standing in line overnight, and even had to take slaps when told, "What have you done for us?"

SEMAS became widely known to the public during the process of distributing disaster relief funds three times. The first trigger was when direct loans of 10 million KRW were provided to small business owners with credit ratings from 4 to 10, starting from March 25 last year. This period was also the most challenging time for SEMAS employees, as COVID-19 support work began in earnest.

During 27 days at that time, 772.3 billion KRW was provided to about 73,000 businesses at 66 SEMAS centers nationwide. This means an average of 2,723 cases per day, with each employee handling over 700 cases. Although they had been supporting traditional market merchants and small business owners before, the sudden overwhelming workload beyond limits caused trial and error.

Working While Being Grabbed by the Collar and Slapped

Small business owners in difficulty lined up in front of centers from the night before to receive first-come, first-served loans, waiting for the doors to open. To control them, employees had to come to work at 3 a.m. to distribute numbered tickets, and every day across centers nationwide, employees were grabbed by the collar and vented frustration when small business owners who lined up failed to get loans.

Some employees even returned to the center in tears after being slapped while supporting traditional markets, with the words, "What have you done for us?" The headquarters set up temporary reception centers in major areas, operated mobile teams, and half of the headquarters staff in Daejeon had to support centers nationwide.

An employee who worked at a center in Seoul at that time said, "Since the budget was limited and not everyone could be supported, some people could not get loans even after lining up for days, and they vented their anger on us. I understood their feelings but also felt hurt and questioned my job," she revealed.

Perhaps due to these early trial and errors in COVID-19 support work, the processing speed improved during the 2nd Saehopeum Fund and 3rd Beotimok Fund support. The online system, which was being installed during the direct loan support, was completed, so during the 2nd and 3rd support rounds, scenes of small business owners lining up overnight were no longer seen.

However, SEMAS employees could not relax. Since "same-day application, same-day payment" became the norm, they had to distribute funds as quickly as possible, even by the minute. If applied in the morning, payment was made that afternoon; if applied from afternoon to midnight, payment had to be completed from early morning to morning the next day.

The Fastest Payment in the World

Chairman Jo Bong-hwan of the Small Enterprise and Market Service visiting the site of direct loans for small business owners in April last year to assess the situation.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

On social media, posts flooded in such as "At 3:21 a.m., the small business owner Beotimok Fund was deposited. Seeing this now (around 4 a.m.) is amazing," "The Beotimok Fund came in at 4 a.m. Korean time. I will pay taxes politely," and "The Beotimok Fund was deposited just half a day after applying."

Former Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun praised the fast processing of SEMAS, saying, "The countries that paid support funds the fastest were Switzerland and Germany, but even they took one or two days. We have not yet found any case where funds were deposited into accounts within 2 to 3 hours like ours."

They could not neglect support for marginalized groups either. The Seoul Jungbu Center, with 10 employees, is the largest in the country, managing about 160,000 businesses. It handles one-fifth of the 630,000 businesses in Seoul, meaning one employee is responsible for about 16,000 businesses. After the Saehopeum Fund and Beotimok Fund applications moved online, small business owners who could not use computers came to the center seeking help. On many days, about 100 people crowded in, and most employees had to handle online applications on their behalf, unable to do other work.

Despite working over 100 hours of overtime per month, payment of overtime allowances was delayed due to budget shortages. Although the situation eased somewhat with increased staff and budget at the end of last year, the emergency situation continues. The 4th disaster relief fund payment is confirmed for April, and COVID-19 shows no signs of abating easily.

A SEMAS official said, "Honestly, it was so hard that I considered changing jobs. But when one small business owner said 'Thank you,' tears welled up. Strangely, that one word dissolved all the bitterness," adding, "That feeling is what drives me to keep doing this work despite the difficulties."

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