Ministry of SMEs and Startups Urgently Provides Additional 350,000 Masks to Small Business Owners

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 24th that it will urgently provide 350,000 masks supplied by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency to small business owners to prevent infections amid the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

This mask support is an additional supply following the 300,000 masks provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Agency earlier this month. The recipients of the masks include small-scale manufacturing businesses (Sogongin workplaces), traditional market merchants, lodging businesses in areas accommodating Korean residents temporarily residing after returning from Wuhan, China, and small and medium-sized enterprises with business sites in China.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to distribute the masks individually to small business owners starting from the 25th in cooperation with Sogongin organizations and Sogongin specialized support centers, local merchant associations, and regional branches of the Korea Lodging Business Central Association.

No Gi-su, Director of the Regional Commercial District Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "We hope that the 350,000 masks provided this time will help small business owners who are struggling to secure masks to prevent COVID-19 infection and its spread, and to normalize their business operations." He added, "In addition to existing financial support such as funding assistance, loan interest rate reductions, and maturity extensions, the Ministry plans to prepare additional programs to restore affected stores to minimize damage to small business owners."