Ministry of SMEs and Startups Holds "Day of Win-Win Payment Expansion" Event

Awards Presented to Contributors and Outstanding Cases in Win-Win Payment Expansion

On December 4, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it held a commemorative event titled "Day of Win-Win Payment Expansion" at the K-BIZ Hall of the Korea Federation of SMEs to recognize individuals who contributed to the spread of win-win payment and to promote outstanding cases of win-win payment implementation.

This year marks the fifth edition of the event, which was attended by about 80 people, including government officials, representatives from related organizations, and contributors to win-win payment. The ministry presented 20 Minister’s Commendations to organizations and individuals who contributed to the expansion of win-win payment. In addition, 10 companies (organizations) selected through the best practice contest for win-win payment received the Secretary General’s Award from the Foundation for Large, Small & Medium Business, and Agriculture & Fisheries Cooperation.

Among the 11 group commendations, recipients included Oseongsa, which made win-win payments totaling 74.5 billion KRW to 27 partner companies over the past year, as well as Hapdong Electronics, Donga Hwasung, Greentech, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Yongin Urban Corporation, Korea South-East Power, Busan Transportation Corporation, Korea Infrastructure Safety and Technology Corporation, Korea International Cooperation Agency, and Daegu Public Facilities Management Corporation.

The nine individual commendations were awarded to Kim Dohyeong, Deputy Manager at Korea Southern Power, who achieved a 16.8% increase year-on-year with win-win payments totaling 479.9 billion KRW through internal system improvements and promotional activities; Kim Hyeri, Manager at Korea District Heating Corporation; Kim Wookyung, Manager at Korea Railroad Corporation; Kwon Soonguk, Manager at Korea Racing Authority; Kim Yujin, Deputy Manager at Jeonnam Development Corporation; Kim Hunsik, Senior Manager at Hyundai Steel; Jang Gyowoon, Senior Specialist at LG Innotek; Na Seonggwan, Manager at the Foundation for Large, Small & Medium Business, and Agriculture & Fisheries Cooperation; and Choi Suyeon, Manager at Hana Bank.

Additionally, the Secretary General’s Award from the Foundation for Large, Small & Medium Business, and Agriculture & Fisheries Cooperation was presented to 10 companies (organizations), including Korea Western Power, which actively used win-win payment to improve unfair transactions and directly pay labor costs, as selected through the best practice contest for win-win payment.

When a purchasing company pays its suppliers through win-win payment, lower-tier partner companies are guaranteed cash payment on the settlement date and can also receive early cash payments at low financial costs, leveraging the purchasing company’s high credit rating even before the settlement date. Unlike promissory notes, even if the purchasing company defaults, financial institutions cannot exercise the right of recourse against the lower-tier partners, making win-win payment a safe settlement method that prevents a chain of defaults.

Since the introduction of win-win payment, a cumulative total of 1,343 trillion KRW had been paid by the end of October this year, and for eight consecutive years since 2018, the annual performance has exceeded 100 trillion KRW. Lee Byungkwon, Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "The achievements of win-win payment, which have continued for over a decade, are the meaningful result of joint efforts by the private and public sectors to spread a culture of mutual growth. The government will further strengthen institutional support so that more small and medium-sized enterprises can safely recover their supply payments and secure predictable cash flow."

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