SMEs' Next Year's Four-Character Idiom 'Unwoochangcheon'... "Expecting Opportunity for Rebound After Overcoming Difficulties"

This Year's Four-Character Idiom Selected as 'Unyejimong'

The small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector has selected ‘Unoe Changcheon (運外蒼天)’ as the four-character idiom for next year.

On September 12, 2023, at the Lotte Hotel in Seogwipo, Jeju, Kim Ki-moon, President of the Korea Federation of SMEs, and Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, are having a conversation at the '2023 SME Leaders Forum.'
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 20th that 25.8% of respondents chose ‘Unoe Changcheon’ in the ‘Survey on the Business Environment Outlook of SMEs through Four-Character Idioms,’ conducted with 500 SMEs.

Unoe Changcheon means “When you come out from beyond the dark clouds, a clear and blue sky appears.” The Federation explained, “Although SMEs have faced difficulties this year due to a complex crisis including high interest rates, high prices, and high exchange rates, it is interpreted that they expect opportunities to leap forward once they overcome the current obstacles.”

The four-character idiom representing this year’s business environment was ‘Unye Ji Mang (雲霓之望),’ which means “Waiting for an opportunity to escape a difficult situation with the hope of a rainbow.”

Regarding strategies to respond to next year’s business environment, the highest proportion of respondents (45.8%, multiple answers allowed) chose “diversifying sales channels such as expanding business partners.” This was followed by “strengthening marketing” (43.3%) and “productivity innovation such as technology development” (34.2%).

The most needed support was “measures to address high interest rates” (36.4%), ranked first. This was followed by “expanding sales channels” (32.0%), “recruiting personnel” (30.2%), and “support for investment in technology development” (28.6%).

Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, “The selection of Unoe Changcheon as the four-character idiom for next year reflects the determination of 7.71 million SMEs who have not lost hope despite continuous challenges such as the three-year COVID-19 pandemic, rising raw material prices, and high interest rates.” He emphasized, “If the government and businesses work as one team, 2024 will be a turning point for South Korea to overcome the crisis and make a new leap forward.”

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