Mid-sized Ombudsman Pledges "Best Efforts for Practical Support" in Response to Namhae-gun Accommodation Industry's Difficulties

Ombudsman Park Ju-bong.
Photo by Junggi Ombudsman

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Park Ju-bong, Small and Medium Business Ombudsman (vice ministerial level), stated on the 15th that when small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Namhae region and the lodging industry, which were excluded from loss compensation, expressed difficulties, "We will listen carefully to the voices of businesses and do our best to find solutions together with government ministries to provide practical assistance."

At the 'Namhae County SMEs and Small Business Owners On-site Empathy Meeting' held with Namhae County Governor Jang Chung-nam on the same day, Ombudsman Park listened to the on-site voices of SMEs and lodging small business owners in the Namhae region who are struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, and said, "The government plans to establish comprehensive damage support measures for industries excluded from loss compensation and announce them within this month."

At the meeting, Yoo Guk-gun, president of the Namhae Pension Association, lamented, "The market monopoly by large lodging platform companies causes great difficulties for lodging small business owners, and the lodging promotion campaign intended to stimulate consumer spending and revive the economy actually ends up supporting only large platform companies."

President Yoo requested, "Realistic support is needed so that lodging small business owners can directly benefit, along with education and support to develop systematic apps that can compete against large platforms."

In response, Ombudsman Park said, "I received a reply from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that a bill for the 'Online Platform Fairness Act,' which includes provisions to mediate but not allow platforms to act as sellers, is currently pending in the National Assembly," adding, "The part concerning prevention of monopolies requires cooperation from related ministries such as the Fair Trade Commission, so we will continuously convey the industry's appeals and consult accordingly."

Regarding support for the tourism lodging industry, he stated, "In addition to issuing lodging discount coupons, we are promoting measures such as postponing hotel industry rating evaluations and supporting quarantine costs for tourism lodging businesses."

President Yoo also expressed, "There is a great sense of loss as the minbak pension sector is excluded from the scope of loss compensation," and requested, "Please include the minbak pension sector in the loss compensation support target."

Ombudsman Park replied, "Some restrictions on lodging facilities and limits on the number of customers are measures under the Small Business Act, not the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, so they are not subject to loss compensation," and added, "The government plans to establish comprehensive damage support measures for industries excluded from loss compensation and announce them within this month."

Other requests from attending companies included △ inclusion of construction machinery dump trucks in the fuel subsidy payment target, △ easing the self-pay ratio for fire mutual aid support projects in traditional markets, △ urgent large-scale repairs of old market building arcades and auxiliary facilities, and △ exemption of individual consumption tax for liquefied petroleum gas pipeline supply projects and establishment of a stabilization fund for household propane prices.

Namhae County Governor Jang Chung-nam said, "We are preparing for the 2022 Treasure Island Namhae Visit Year," and requested, "Please help minimize the damage to residents caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and support the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman so that we can proactively respond to new environments such as the domestic tourism market."

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