"Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid is Amazing"... Japan Corporate Mutual Aid Association Visits Korea

Lee Won-seop, Head of the Mutual Aid Business Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs (fourth from the left), is taking a commemorative photo with Mitsuhiro Fukushima, Executive Director of the Japan Mutual Aid Association (fifth from the left), and other officials from both countries.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 21st that it shared operational cases of the Yellow Umbrella system with the Japan Mutual Aid Association for Small and Medium Enterprises and discussed ways to expand information exchange between the two countries.

This meeting was arranged when Fukushima Mitsuhiro, Executive Director of the Japan Mutual Aid Association for Small and Medium Enterprises, and his delegation visited the Korea Federation of SMEs. The Mutual Aid Association was established in 1978 and aims to research mutual aid systems related to small and medium enterprises in Japan and contribute to the management stability and promotion of SMEs. The meeting with the Korea Federation of SMEs was held at the request of the Mutual Aid Association.

In October 2017, the Mutual Aid Association also sent Chairman Hatayutsuryu and his delegation to visit the Korea Federation of SMEs to understand the Yellow Umbrella system.

The Yellow Umbrella is a public mutual aid system operated under Article 115 of the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act to help micro and small business owners maintain livelihood stability against risks such as business closure, old age, and death, and to provide opportunities for business recovery.

Lee Wonseop, Head of the Mutual Aid Business Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, "When Korea introduced the Yellow Umbrella system, it referred to Japan’s small-scale enterprise mutual aid system, but now Japan has come to benchmark our system and operational status," adding, "This proves that the Yellow Umbrella has firmly established itself as a social safety net for domestic micro and small business owners."

Fukushima Mitsuhiro, Executive Director, said, "I am very surprised that the Yellow Umbrella, which has only been around for about 10 years, has become an essential system for micro and small business owners in Korea," and added, "I hope that through continuous information exchange in the future, the mutual aid systems of both countries will develop further."