Jubong Park, SME Ombudsman, "Resolving Complaints Big and Small Without Discrimination"

Jung-gi Ombudsman Holds Meeting to Address Regulatory and Grievance Issues of Small Business Owners in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam Regions

Jubong Park, Small and Medium Business Ombudsman (Vice Minister level).
[Photo by Small and Medium Business Ombudsman]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Park Ju-bong, Small and Medium Business Ombudsman (vice ministerial level), said on the 24th, "The government is making every effort to overcome the economic difficulties caused by COVID-19," adding, "We are taking the concerns of small business owners seriously and doing our best more than ever to resolve their issues, regardless of size."

Ombudsman Park made these remarks during a 'Small Business Owners On-site Meeting' held in Busan, where he visited the city along with In Tae-yeon, Secretary for Self-Employment at the Presidential Secretariat, to listen to regulatory grievances from small business owners in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions.

Park and Secretary In met with merchants of Choryang Traditional Market at the Dong-gu Choryang 2-dong Administrative Welfare Center in Busan to hear about the difficulties they are facing due to COVID-19. The merchants requested support for improvement construction to provide a pleasant shopping environment. Ombudsman Park informed them, "As a result of our proposal to Busan City, we received a response that a small-scale environmental improvement project is planned for the second half of the year, and a detailed review will be conducted through an on-site inspection in September to provide support."

At 2 p.m., during the 'Small Business Owners On-site Meeting' held in the large conference room of Dong-gu Office in Busan with 10 representatives from small business owners and cooperative organizations in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions, Kim Kyung-ran, head of the Ulsan Eastern Branch of the Korea Beauty Association, requested, "Please allow not only students but also the general public to participate in apprenticeship learning in the hairdressing field."

In response, Ombudsman Park said, "Work and study can be combined not only for those employed as students receiving training but also for workers who have been employed within one year."

Heo Il, CEO of Gyeongjeon-yo, requested, "Please improve the system so that quality labels for handicrafts can be placed on separate sheets." Gyeongjeon-yo is a company that produces lamps using ceramics and has faced difficulties because each handcrafted product must have a stitched quality label.

Ombudsman Park replied, "According to the response from the National Institute of Technology and Standards, for household textile products where individual stitched labels severely impair aesthetics or cause inconvenience in use, individual labeling is allowed."

In addition, attendees raised various on-site difficulties such as requests for exemption from the Korea Certification (KC) mark for small-scale specialized product development, support for property tax and local resource facility tax reductions for cultural and artistic organizations, and expansion of special incentives for youth employment.

Secretary In Tae-yeon said, "With the COVID-19 situation being very severe and strengthened social distancing measures, there is great concern that the recovery of small business owners' management may be delayed. The government will prioritize quarantine and livelihood, and will promptly promote support for small business owners' damages and compensation for losses," adding, "We will carefully consider the suggestions made today and strive to respond with policies that empower you."

Meanwhile, the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman plans to hold on-site meetings with small business owners every month until the end of the year, visiting major hub cities such as Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Gwangju, following visits to Daegu and Gyeongbuk in June, Daejeon and Sejong, and now Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions.

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