'100 Million KRW Quarantine Support Fund for Small Business Owners... Payments Start at the End of This Month (Comprehensive)'

Government Claims "All Available Budget Mobilized"... But Insufficient to Soothe Small Business Sector Missing 'Year-End Demand'
Hastily Announces 'Cash Support Within the Year'... Lacks Specific 'Sales Decline' Criteria and Payment Date Details

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is briefing on support measures for small business owners and self-employed workers following the implementation of strengthened quarantine measures at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 17th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] The government will provide 1 million KRW in cash as a 'quarantine support fund' to 3.2 million small business owners whose sales have decreased due to strengthened quarantine measures. The payment is planned to be expedited starting at the end of this month. The intention is to support self-employed and small business owners who lost the year-end and New Year’s peak season as much as possible, but there are complaints that the amount is far too insufficient compared to the losses.

On the 17th, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum stated at a joint briefing of related ministries on the 'Support Measures for Small Business Owners and Self-Employed due to Strengthened Quarantine Measures,' "At this point, we have mobilized all available resources to prepare additional support measures that small business owners and the self-employed can feel," announcing the plan.

The government has prepared a three-part package including quarantine support funds, in-kind support, and additional loss compensation, investing a total of 4.3 trillion KRW. To this end, all available resources such as the existing budget, various funds, and contingency funds were mobilized.

The target recipients for the quarantine support fund were broadened as much as possible to include most of the approximately 3.2 million small business owners. The required budget for this is about 3.2 trillion KRW. Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, explained, "As long as a decrease in sales is confirmed, 1 million KRW in cash will be supported from the end of this year regardless of sales scale or the level of quarantine measures. About 900,000 places that received loss compensation for business suspension or restriction, as well as 2.3 million places such as travel and performance businesses that were not eligible for loss compensation, are also included."

The scope of small business loss compensation was also expanded, and the minimum amount was increased from the existing 100,000 KRW to 500,000 KRW. The additional budget for this is 1 trillion KRW. The government will also invest 100 billion KRW to provide additional in-kind support worth about 100,000 KRW to 1.15 million small business owners in restaurants, cafes, PC rooms, study rooms, etc., where the vaccination certificate and negative test confirmation system (quarantine pass) is applied. This will be done by verifying purchases of items necessary for quarantine activities such as electronic entry log devices, thermometers, and partitions, and paying the corresponding amount.

Despite the government’s support measures, it seems insufficient to appease small business owners who were aiming for the 'year-end and New Year’s special.' As public sentiment worsened due to strengthened quarantine measures, the government hastily announced support plans, but specific details such as the criteria for judging 'sales decrease' and payment dates were omitted. A Ministry of SMEs and Startups official said, "The sales criteria and timing are still being coordinated," and added, "We plan to announce them next week."

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