Minister Hansung Sook Visits Gyeongnam to Assess Impact of Middle East War

Visits to Dongparang Area in Tongyeong and SBC Headquarters

The government visited the Gyeongnam region to review the challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners by industry, due to the prolonged Middle East war. This initiative aims to check the real difficulties experienced on the ground in the regional economy amid rising economic uncertainty, and to prepare swift policy responses.

Hansung-sook, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, is delivering a greeting at the Chungnam National University Startup Club Student Meeting held on the 13th at Chungnam National University in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that on April 17, Minister Hansung Sook visited the glocal commercial district in the Dongparang area of Tongyeong to examine the current status of local commercial revitalization and held an on-site meeting with local entrepreneurs.

This area features a renovated building that had served as the Tongyeong Theater from the 1960s to the 1980s and then operated as a bank for 30 years, which has now been transformed into a workation (remote work at vacation spots) space. With the influx of tourists, sales in the surrounding commercial district have increased by approximately 13% over the past two years.

Annie Kim, Manager at DDPS, presented the 'Current Status and Plans for the Tongyeong Local Commercial District Project,' and discussed the establishment of shared local brand hubs to revitalize the local market during the prolonged Middle East war, as well as support measures to meet the needs of foreign tourists.

The Ministry plans to actively support the nurturing of local entrepreneurs and the expansion of infrastructure for foreign visitors through the commercial district revitalization project, which has been promoted since this year, by reflecting these on-site opinions.

As the second agenda, Minister Hansung Sook visited the headquarters of the Small & Medium Business Corporation (SBC) in Jinju and held a policy meeting with SBC staff.

Minister Hansung Sook emphasized special maturity extensions for policy funds, expanding emergency funding, and prompt execution of supplementary budgets to support SMEs experiencing liquidity crises due to the Middle East war. In particular, to ease the burden of logistics costs for export companies, the ministry plans to execute more than 90% of the supplementary budget for export vouchers and other logistics-related funding by June, ensuring that companies feel tangible effects on the ground.

Next, Minister Hansung Sook visited the Gajwa Campus of Gyeongsang National University for a discussion aimed at spreading the 'Startup Project for All' initiative with aspiring young entrepreneurs. Over 100 university students interested in entrepreneurship, including startup club members, attended the session, where Minister Hansung Sook introduced the initiative and listened to diverse opinions from young people about startups.

Finally, Minister Hansung Sook visited K-Tech, a defense company in Jinju, Gyeongnam, which exports 100% of its products to the Middle East. She inspected the production line to assess the impact of the prolonged Middle East war, including soaring logistics costs and disruptions to export contracts.

During the subsequent on-site meeting, the ministry listened to concerns from six companies, including K-Tech, affected by the Middle East war, and discussed response measures. Attending companies highlighted key difficulties such as the increased cost burden from soaring raw material prices—such as naphtha and lubricants—delays in reflecting these increased costs in supply prices, and rising logistics costs due to shipping delays.

Minister Hansung Sook stated, "It is expected to take considerable time for logistics and transportation to normalize and for the complete restoration of energy production facilities in the Middle East," adding, "The aftermath of the Middle East war is likely to persist for the time being." She continued, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will provide an additional KRW 462.2 billion in support for companies affected by the Middle East war through the supplementary budget, and the challenges raised on-site today will be swiftly reflected in policy through the pan-government emergency economic response system."

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