Chungnam Province Provides Emergency Aid of 500,000 Won to Small Business Owners with Annual Sales Under 100 Million Won

Governor Kim Tae-heum:
"Will Expedite Administrative Procedures
to Provide Much-Needed Relief Like Rain in a Drought"

Chungnam Governor Kim Taehum held a press conference on the 21st and announced, "We will provide a 500,000 won business recovery support fund to small business owners with annual sales of less than 100 million won." / Chungnam Province

The closure and suspension rate for small businesses in Chungnam Province last year was 34.6%, and their sales decreased by 11.9% compared to 2023.

Additionally, the delinquency rate for policy fund loans from the Chungnam Credit Guarantee Foundation rose from 4.5% in 2023 to 6.5% last year.

Chungnam Province will provide emergency management recovery support funds of 500,000 won to small business owners on the verge of bankruptcy.

Governor Kim Tae-heum held a press conference in the provincial government’s main conference room on the 21st and stated, “A significant number of small business owners in the province are facing a worsening crisis due to sluggish domestic demand, with the perceived economic conditions deteriorating even more than during the IMF bailout crisis, so we are providing emergency support to small businesses.”

He continued, “Last month, the consumer sentiment index plummeted by 12.3 points due to extreme political turmoil, high inflation, high interest rates, high exchange rates, and incidents such as the Jeju Air passenger plane accident.”

He added, “This is the largest decline since March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic hardship currently felt by small business owners is even more severe than during the IMF crisis.”

He also said, “Although the central government will come up with measures, small business owners are literally on the verge of starvation and have no time to spare,” emphasizing, “Even temporary measures are needed so they can at least catch their breath.”

He further stated, “We will expedite administrative procedures to provide support as quickly as possible, so that this can serve as much-needed relief for small business owners.”

The recipients of the small business management recovery support are 127,786 small business owners whose representative is registered as a resident in the province as of the announcement date, who operate a business with fewer than five regular employees and had annual sales of less than 100 million won last year.

In the case of manufacturing and construction industries, small business owners with fewer than ten regular employees are also eligible for support.

However, businesses related to gambling or entertainment, high value-added sectors such as legal, accounting, tax, hospitals, and pharmacies, solar, thermal, and hydro power generation, electricity sales, unregistered businesses, and businesses that are closed or suspended are excluded from eligibility.

The support amount is 500,000 won per business, and each city or county will autonomously provide the funds either in cash or as local gift certificates.

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