[2021 National Audit] Rep. Kim Jeongjae: "Traditional Market Digital Manager Project Is a Hasty Project by Park Youngsun"

2021 National Audit of Agencies under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jeong-jae speaking
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Ahn Jung-won = People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jeong-jae is speaking at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's audit held by the Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Venture Business Committee at the National Assembly on the 5th. 2021.10.5 [Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers]
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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] Kim Jeong-jae, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS) under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups for its traditional market online expansion support project as a "hasty project under Park Young-sun."

On the 14th, during the audit of institutions under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held at the National Assembly, Rep. Kim made these remarks regarding SEMAS's "Traditional Market Digital Manager Support Project." This project connects professional personnel (digital managers) one-on-one with traditional markets to support their entry into online business.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups included this project as a new item in the third supplementary budget during the full meeting of the Budget and Accounts Special Committee in June last year, when former Minister Park Young-sun was in office. However, aside from the Budget Committee's inquiries at that time, preliminary reviews by the Industry, Trade, and SMEs Committee and budget project explanations were omitted, raising controversy over the project's hasty implementation. Even after the supplementary budget was finalized, the materials submitted by the ministry did not specify concrete details such as recruitment of professional institutions or selection of supported markets.

Rep. Kim stated, "Looking at the performance from November last year to April this year, the total budget was 760 million KRW, and total sales were 540 million KRW," adding, "Dividing sales among 448 stores in 14 markets, sales per store amount to only 7,000 KRW." He continued, "Moreover, sales performance for 227 stores in 7 markets was zero," and added, "Despite this, this year's budget has tripled compared to last year."

Rep. Kim also pointed out, "Of this year's 2.4 billion KRW budget, only 320 million KRW, or 13%, has been executed as of this month," and "The selection of traditional markets has not yet been completed." He further stated, "Next year's budget has not been allocated at all," and described the project as "a political hasty project that must be abandoned due to poor performance after one year of implementation."

In response, Cho Bong-hwan, Director of SEMAS, explained, "Before COVID-19, the online market grew by more than 10% annually, but the offline market growth rate was only 1-2%," adding, "There are many concerns about how traditional markets can grow in five years."

Director Cho said, "Traditional markets are aging, so some time is needed as they are not prepared for online," and noted, "There are places like Amsa Market that are generating relatively high sales." He added, "We will do our best to create success stories in digital transformation within traditional markets," and said, "We will benchmark places like Amsa Market to help spread successful cases."

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