Minister Oh Young-joo: "This Year's Woomunhyeondap to Focus More Deeply on Small Business Owners' Sites"

The First 'Small Business Owners' Practical Policy Consultation Meeting' of the New Year Held

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 9th that it held the first 'Small Business Owners' Practical Policy Council' of 2025 at the Eroom Center in Yeouido, Seoul. The event was attended by the president and vice president of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, regional branch heads representing metropolitan areas, regional headquarters directors of the Small Enterprise and Market Service, and related experts.

As the first agenda of the policy council, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups explained the '2025 Key Policy Directions for Small Business Owners.' The support projects for small business owners will begin the selection process promptly from early January and aim to execute the budget as early as possible within the first half of the year. Additionally, policy funds for small business owners amounting to 3.77 trillion KRW will be disbursed starting mid-January.

Furthermore, during the Lunar New Year period, the discount rate for purchasing Digital Onnuri Gift Certificates will be increased from 10% to 15%, and a refund event will be held when payments are made at affiliated stores using Digital Onnuri Gift Certificates, aiming to promote the use of Onnuri Gift Certificates.

Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups (second from the right), is delivering a greeting at the '2025 1st Small Business Owners' Practical Policy Council' held on the 9th at the Irum Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

To alleviate the financial burden on small business owners, the eligibility criteria for extending repayment of small business policy funds will be relaxed, and the 'three-piece set' of financial support for small business owners will be strengthened, including expanding the supply scale of conversion guarantees. In addition, a new 'Win-Win Growth Support Fund' of 100 billion KRW will be established to support coexistence between small business owners and e-commerce platforms, thereby enhancing financial support for small business owners. The preferential card merchant fee rates for micro and small merchants will be reduced by 0.05 to 0.1 percentage points. To support the recovery of small business owners, the subsidy for store demolition costs will be increased from a maximum of 2.5 million KRW to 4 million KRW.

After the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' policy explanation, a discussion session followed regarding the current status and difficulties of small business industries by region, as well as desired policies for this year. Song Chi-young, president of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, said, “Through last year's Practical Policy Council, the communication function with the field was greatly strengthened and reflected, addressing burdens such as management costs and work-related regulations for small business owners,” adding, “Considering the recent unstable political situation and difficult economic conditions, I proposed that a whole-of-government effort be made to restore warmth to small business owners during the upcoming Lunar New Year and other times, taking into account the challenging livelihood conditions.”

Minister Oh Young-joo, who presided over the meeting, stated, “This year's Practical Policy Council will proceed with themes that delve deeper into the field of small business owners,” and “This year, we will meet with small business owners from more diverse fields, industries, and regions, and do our best to ensure that various small business policies contained in the new year's economic policy directions are firmly established in the field.”

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