Small Business Groups Strongly Oppose Early-Morning Delivery by Large Discount Stores... "Will File Constitutional Petition"

Small business groups have strongly objected to the recent move to allow early-morning delivery by large discount stores, denouncing it as a measure that will "cut off the lifeline of neighborhood commercial districts."

Citizens are grocery shopping at a large supermarket in Seoul. Yonhap News

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On the 6th, small business organizations such as the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprises, the Korea Merchant Association, and the Korea Federation of Supermarket Cooperative Associations issued an official commentary, stating, "The restrictions on business hours and mandatory closure system, which are at the core of the Distribution Industry Development Act, have served as the minimum safety net and a symbol of coexistence that has protected neighborhood commercial districts and traditional markets from the reckless expansion of large retail companies," and added, "The government's latest move directly denies this legal intent and is no different from handing over the right to survive of 7.9 million small business owners to large corporations."

They went on to say, "Small business owners are already being driven to the edge of a cliff by the rapid growth of online platforms, and giving large discount stores the added advantage of early-morning delivery is effectively a decision to completely cut off the lifeline of neighborhood commercial districts."

They also stressed that, if early-morning delivery by large discount stores becomes a reality, there are concerns that consumers will ultimately be harmed. The small business community said, "The ruling party and the government put forward consumer convenience as their justification, but true convenience comes from a healthy ecosystem in which a variety of distribution players coexist," and continued, "If large discount stores come to dominate even the early-morning hours, the diversity of the distribution ecosystem will be destroyed, and in the long term, consumers' freedom of choice and even their power over pricing will be threatened due to the monopolistic and oligopolistic power of large corporations."

On the 4th, the Democratic Party of Korea and the government discussed a reform proposal focused on lifting regulations on early-morning delivery by large discount stores at a working-level meeting held at the Export-Import Bank of Korea in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. This discussion stems from the concern that the current Distribution Industry Development Act, which restricts the business hours of large discount stores, has ended up only contributing to the Scaling Up of e-commerce companies such as Coupang.

The small business community argued, "Allowing early-morning delivery by large discount stores in order to keep Coupang in check is like burning down the entire house to catch a flea," and emphasized, "Even if we accept the early-morning delivery ecosystem that currently exists, we can never tolerate large corporations jumping into it as well. Rather, providing support for and fostering traditional supermarkets and traditional markets is the most powerful means of countering the early-morning delivery services of online platforms."

They further stated, "If the ruling party and the government decide to allow early-morning delivery by large discount stores, the small business sector plans to immediately file a constitutional petition with the Constitutional Court, calling for a halt to the measure," and added, "We will also forcefully express the anger of small business owners across the country toward the members of the National Assembly who support this law."

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