Unified Application Method for Mobile and Onnuri Gift Certificate Franchise Stores

Crisis in Underground Shopping Malls, Ombudsman Park Joobong, "Doing Our Best to Prepare Support Measures"

Park Ju-bong, Ombudsman for Small and Medium Enterprises, speaking.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The application method for Onnuri Gift Certificates (paper and electronic), which has been split between the Regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration and the Small Enterprise and Market Service, will be unified into an online application process.

Park Ju-bong, the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman (vice-ministerial level), visited the underground shopping mall on Jungang-ro in Daejeon on the 25th to listen to the difficulties faced by small business owners. The small business owners appealed that their hardships have intensified due to COVID-19 and changes in consumer purchasing patterns, requesting support measures.

The Small and Medium Business Ombudsman held an 'On-site Meeting with Small Business Owners' in Daejeon Metropolitan City to hear about regulatory difficulties faced by traditional merchants and small business owners in the Daejeon and Chungcheong regions. Before the meeting, at 11 a.m., Ombudsman Park met with merchants of the Jungang-ro underground shopping mall to listen to their concerns.

According to the merchants' association, underground shopping malls nationwide are experiencing similar difficulties. The association expects that the number of customers in underground shopping malls in 2022 will decrease by 35.6%, and purchase amounts will drop by 33.6%. Merchants complain that although there is foot traffic due to COVID-19 and changes in purchasing patterns, it does not translate into actual purchases. Additionally, most underground shopping malls nationwide were built in the 1980s and 1990s, leading to aging facilities and problems such as poor accessibility and unfavorable shopping environments.

In response, the merchants' association is requesting the establishment of a promotion committee to revitalize underground shopping malls nationwide and for the government to develop countermeasures. Kim Jin-ho, president of the Jungang-ro underground shopping mall merchants' association, said, "We have experienced a management crisis due to COVID-19 for over three years, and as consumer purchasing patterns shift from offline to online, we are facing difficulties." He added, "Due to declining sales, merchants are leaving the shopping mall day by day, so support to overcome this crisis is urgently needed." Kim proposed maintaining a 50% rent support until recovery from COVID-19 and support for common management expenses (such as common electricity fees and water/sewer charges).

In response, Ombudsman Park said, "Supporting the full recovery and new leap of traditional markets and small business owners is one of the important national tasks. We will closely review this with Daejeon City and do our best to prepare measures that can provide relief for management crises."

Following this, from 2 p.m., Ombudsman Park held an 'On-site Meeting with Small Business Owners' at the 3rd-floor conference room of the Small Enterprise and Market Service headquarters with five representatives of small business owners and associations from the Daejeon and Chungcheong regions. The meeting was also attended by Heo Young-hoe, vice president of the Small Enterprise and Market Service, and Ahn Bu-yong, president of the Daejeon Small Business and Self-Employed Federation.

At the meeting, Kim Ji-heon, president of the Daejeon Munchang Market merchants' association, suggested, "Currently, the institutions for registering Onnuri Gift Certificate (paper and electronic) merchants are split between the Regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration and the Small Enterprise and Market Service for mobile Onnuri Gift Certificates. We hope the application method for merchant registration can be unified."

In response, Heo Young-hoe, vice president of the Small Enterprise and Market Service, explained, "The mobile Onnuri Gift Certificate is based on Zero Pay, so merchants must be registered as Zero Pay merchants. To facilitate merchant registration for traditional market merchants, the 'Korea Easy Payment Promotion Agency' currently handles merchant registration applications." He added, "To improve registration efficiency, our agency is reorganizing the system to allow pre-verification of registration requirements through database management and enable online merchant applications," expressing willingness to accept the suggestion.

Other attendees raised various field difficulties, including △reducing TV reception fees in hotel rooms, △improving disinfection methods for infectious disease prevention in traditional markets, △granting negotiation rights for lowering card fees for small business card merchants' associations, and △adding industry codes in the value-added tax standard certificate.

Ombudsman Park Ju-bong said, "Amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, rising prices, interest rate hikes, and recent floods, we are aware that small business owners and traditional market merchants are going through difficult times. We will take this more seriously than ever and do our utmost to support them."

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