Ministry of SMEs and Startups: "Mutual Growth Agreement with Small Businesses Must Come Before Early Morning Delivery at Large Supermarkets"

"The Significance of Protective Measures for Small Businesses Has Faded"

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has stated that before allowing early morning delivery at large supermarkets—a policy currently being pursued by the ruling party, the government, and the Presidential Office—it is necessary to first devise measures for mutual growth with the small business sector. This is the first time the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, which oversees small business policy, has publicly expressed its position regarding the controversy over early morning delivery at large supermarkets.

On the 16th, Lee Byungkwon, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, is speaking at the 2026 Small Business Policy Briefing held at the Small Business Digital Education Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

On March 16, at the 2026 Small Business Policy Briefing held in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Lee Byungkwon, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, met with reporters and said, “It is uncertain how the recent movement to amend the Distribution Industry Development Act, which is currently being discussed in the National Assembly, will proceed. However, if a plan for mutual cooperation between the distribution industry and small businesses is established, the legislative process will move forward accordingly. If not, and both sides continue to compete over their respective territories as they do now, it will be difficult to advance the legislation.”

Organizations including the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprises and the Korea Merchant Association have been staging collective actions every day in opposition to the amendment of the Distribution Industry Development Act, which centers on easing regulations for early morning delivery by large supermarkets. Although the ruling party and the government are discussing mutual growth measures with the small business sector, such as the creation of a mutual growth fund, the industry maintains that these discussions should be withdrawn altogether. At a press conference held in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on March 10, small business organizations made it clear, “We will not back down even an inch and will not accept any compromise proposal from the government or the ruling party.”

There are also views that the dichotomous structure and policy direction between large supermarkets and small businesses or traditional markets must change to reflect the evolving retail ecosystem. Deputy Minister Lee explained, “In the past, it was a fierce competition to attract foot traffic in offline markets, and the current regulations on large supermarkets were created to protect small businesses in that environment. However, the distribution structure has changed very rapidly, and in my personal opinion, these frameworks established in the past are no longer meaningful as mechanisms to ensure the competitiveness of small businesses and traditional markets.” He added, “Large supermarkets are no longer the overwhelmingly dominant players, so it is questionable whether government regulations to protect the weaker parties in the retail market are still justified.”

He also stated, “In the manufacturing sector, mutual cooperation between large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises has been active, but this has not been the case in the distribution industry. The retail sector must also consider ways to promote mutual growth with youth startups and others in order to ensure sustainability. From this perspective, the issue of whether or not to allow early morning delivery at large supermarkets is a relatively minor matter.”

He continued, “Although numerous studies have been conducted on the impact of large supermarket operations on the sales of nearby small businesses and traditional markets, interpretations differ. While official data is important, we cannot ignore the psychological pressure experienced by small business owners on the ground. This is not something that can be addressed by numbers alone; experiential statistics must also be considered.”

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