Yeosu City to Implement 15% Discount on Card-Type Gift Certificates Within the Year

Boosting Domestic Demand and Promoting Consumption for 'Stabilizing People's Livelihoods'
Emergency Reserve Fund Injection Totals 12.7 Billion Issued

Amid growing uncertainty in domestic and global economic conditions due to the impeachment crisis and concerns over sluggish consumption, Yeosu City has launched a special 15% discount sale on the Yeosu Sarang Card-type gift certificates.

This initiative stems from the directive of Yeosu Mayor Chung Kimyung at the "Emergency Livelihood Stabilization Measures Meeting" held on the 16th, where he instructed, "Review and implement measures that can immediately benefit citizens, such as utilizing reserve funds."

Image of card-type Yeosu Sarang gift certificate. Provided by Yeosu City

To this end, the city has urgently allocated 450 million KRW from reserve funds, deciding to issue a total of 12.7 billion KRW in gift certificates. Of this, 2.7 billion KRW will be sold within this year, and an additional 10 billion KRW will be issued on January 2 next year.

In particular, the city plans to further boost local consumption by advancing the sale of the remaining 20 billion KRW worth of gift certificates at a 15% discount in the first half of 2025.

Purchases will be available from 9 a.m. on the 23rd of this month and January 2 next year, and will end once the planned issuance volume is sold out.

However, once the special discount quota for the Lunar New Year is exhausted, the discount rate will revert to 10%.

The city expects that this discounted gift certificate sale will provide significant support to small business owners struggling with sluggish domestic demand and help alleviate household burdens for citizens.

Mayor Chung Kimyung stated, "The purpose of this special gift certificate discount is to stabilize livelihoods early by boosting domestic demand and promoting consumption," adding, "We will continue to issue gift certificates to support local small business owners and citizens facing difficulties due to rising prices and economic downturn."

Meanwhile, local currency circulates only within the designated region and can be used exclusively at businesses with annual sales of 3 billion KRW or less, making a significant contribution to small business revenue.

Notably, the "15% Special Discount Sale on Card-type Yeosu Sarang Gift Certificates," implemented for the first time this year, ranked first among Yeosu City's top 10 administrative achievements for 2023, reflecting high citizen support.

Previously, the city issued a total of 28 billion KRW in gift certificates for the Lunar New Year, Chuseok, and summer vacation seasons (7 billion for Lunar New Year, 15 billion for summer vacation, and 6 billion for Chuseok). The 15% special discount for Chuseok sold out within 11 hours of launch.

In fact, during this period, 87% of the card-type gift certificates sold at a 15% discount were exchanged, and by limiting participating merchants to those with annual sales of 3 billion KRW or less, the initiative was evaluated as having contributed primarily to small business revenues.

Additionally, as citizens visited traditional markets to purchase holiday essentials, these markets became more vibrant. Further, an extra 5% discount at "Good Price Stores" helped reduce the cost burden for citizens and played a significant role in reviving stagnant consumer sentiment.

Buoyed by the enthusiastic support from citizens this year, the city plans to expand the 15% discount on card-type Yeosu Sarang Gift Certificates (Seomseom Yeosu Pay) next year as well.

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