Daegu City, Is There a Will for Coexistence...Mandatory Closure Agreement Excludes Small Business Owners

Small Business Association Issues Statement
"Discussions Must Include Small Business Owners"

A large supermarket store in Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The small business sector has voiced criticism toward Daegu City for changing the mandatory closure days of large marts to weekdays.

The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KSMB) issued a statement on the 21st, pointing out that small business owners were excluded from the 'Agreement Ceremony for Changing Large Mart Mandatory Closure Days to Weekdays' held by Daegu City on the 19th.

Only Daegu City, eight district and county offices, the Daegu branch of the National Merchants Federation, Daegu East and Jungseobu Supermarket Cooperatives, and the Korea Chain Store Association participated in the ceremony.

They criticized, "Looking at the participants of the agreement ceremony, there is no doubt that the voices of various small business owners engaged in distribution may not be properly reflected."

They added, "We want to ask Daegu City whether they think the impact of mandatory closure days only affects traditional markets and supermarkets, and whether they have the will to coexist with local small business owners."

In this regard, when the government moved to abolish the mandatory closure of large marts in August, KSMB reported that they were flooded with complaint calls from small business owners.

Most of them protested, saying, "We endure by paying store rent and public utility fees through relatively increased sales on the mandatory closure days of large marts, but if the mandatory closure days disappear, it means we have to close our stores."

KSMB urged, "True coexistence can only be achieved through discussions that include the voices of various small business owners," and called for "discussions on the agreement with members who can realize genuine coexistence and symbiosis among large, medium, and small distribution businesses."

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