Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Benefits Available Even for Disasters and Diseases... Introduction of Mid-Term Settlement (Comprehensive)

On the 19th, Development Plan Announcement in Yeouido
Deputy Minister O Gi-woong: "Leap Forward as a Comprehensive Welfare Platform"

If you experience natural disasters or illness and injury, you can receive compensation from the Noryanwoosang Mutual Aid and also make interim settlements.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Federation of SMEs held a meeting on the 19th at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and announced the "Noryanwoosang Mutual Aid Development Plan."

According to the plan, in addition to the four existing compensation reasons of "business closure, retirement, old age, death," four new reasons?"natural disasters, social disasters, illness and injury, rehabilitation and bankruptcy"?will be added. In particular, for the four newly established compensation items aimed at overcoming temporary liquidity crises, it will be reviewed to allow interim settlements and continued membership when such reasons occur.

On the morning of the 19th, a meeting on the development plan for the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid was held at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul. (Photo by Yonhap News)

A low-interest management stabilization loan of 45 billion KRW will be newly established, and interest-free loans will be added to address the urgent funding needs of small business owners. In times of crisis, support will be provided through policy insurance, and comprehensive support will be expanded, including applying a fast-track re-start support program for small business owners who have received business closure compensation.

Efforts will also be made to provide welfare at the level of large corporations. A dedicated welfare card tailored to the management activities of small business owners will be introduced, and a welfare plaza for welfare and community activities such as leisure, sports, exchange, and cooperation among members will be created and operated. The welfare card is planned to be introduced as a concept that provides benefits when small business owners use it to purchase raw materials, food and supplies, and intermediate materials. Along with this, membership for recreational facilities for rest and recharge will be expanded, and efforts will be made to strengthen the collection of subscriber opinions and improve the system through 13 regional Customer Rights Protection Committees.

At the meeting, Oh Ki-woong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "By forming a task force (TF), we gathered opinions from various fields to create the current development plan. The distinctive feature is that we collected many opinions from the field, and this comprehensive measure came from the urgency to seek better directions. If the Noryanwoosang Mutual Aid has so far been a method of stably paying compensation, now it is seen as evolving into a comprehensive welfare platform that thinks more about welfare for small business owners."

To create a robust mutual aid fund with stable asset management, operational innovation will be pursued. To improve the mutual aid yield, the proportion of alternative investments will be expanded from 28% this year to 35% by 2025. The target yield has also been raised from the existing 3.6% this year to 4.2%, with a goal of 5% by 2027. To achieve this, operational personnel will be gradually expanded, expertise of members enhanced, and the organizational structure reorganized by function to strengthen the management organization.

Lee Do-yoon, Head of Asset Management at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, "It is true that we have focused on safety because we have been managing subscribers' retirement funds, but we are aware that the yield must be higher. We will aim to increase profitability, but within alternative investments, we will focus on safer options rather than high-risk ones, paying attention to safety while improving profitability."

To ensure subscriber satisfaction, operational information such as the status of mutual aid reserves for each subscriber will be available for real-time checking. The My Page function through the website or application will be enhanced, and personalized welfare recommendations and semi-annual personal asset management portfolios will be provided.

Attending the meeting were Vice Minister Oh, Lee Hyun-jo, Head of the Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Support Team at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Lee Cheong-il, Director of Small Business Leap Department, Lee Jang-hoon, Director of Small Business Loss Compensation Department, as well as Jeong Yun-mo, Executive Vice President of the Korea Federation of SMEs, Park Yong-man, Head of Mutual Aid Operations, and Lee Do-yoon, Head of Asset Management. Noryanwoosang Mutual Aid subscribers and mutual aid operation committee members also attended and shared their opinions.

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