Gangdong-gu to Provide Closure Support Funds for Karaoke Rooms, PC Rooms, and Sports Facilities

Support Fund for Businesses That Voluntarily Closed Due to Social Distancing... 100,000 KRW per Day for Businesses Closed for 8+ Consecutive Days from March 30 to April 10, Up to 1 Million KRW... Applications Accepted Until April 1

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) has recently joined the 'social distancing' campaign due to concerns about COVID-19 cluster infections in crowded spaces, and is urgently deploying disaster management funds to provide closure support funds to multi-use facilities that have suspended operations.

The target facilities for support are singing practice rooms, game facility providers (PC rooms, youth game providers, general game providers), and sports facilities (fitness centers, sports dojangs, martial arts academies, martial arts dojangs, and free businesses). The support criteria apply to businesses that have closed for 8 or more consecutive days from March 30 to April 10.

As of March 30, the district office will provide 100,000 KRW per day of closure to registered (reported) businesses, up to a maximum of 1,000,000 KRW.

To apply, applicants must submit the closure support fund application form, a copy of the representative’s ID, and a copy of the bankbook, each one copy, either by visiting the district office, fax, or email to the person in charge. However, if the business operates even one day during the closure period, support will not be provided, so caution is required. After reviewing the submitted documents and conducting on-site verification, the support funds can be received in April.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, said, “We aim to share even a little of the difficulties faced by local businesses struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 situation by providing closure support funds. We will continue to support quarantine measures and strengthen prevention and publicity activities for crowded multi-use facilities to block community infections.”

For inquiries about the closure support funds, singing practice rooms and game facility providers can contact the Culture and Arts Division, and sports facilities can contact the Sports for All Division for guidance.

Since March 13, the district has conducted on-site inspections of 531 private multi-use cultural and sports facilities such as karaoke rooms, PC rooms, and gyms in the area. Inspection teams of two people have been focusing on guiding quarantine rules and guidelines to be followed at business sites, distributing quarantine supplies such as hand sanitizers, and making every effort to block COVID-19 community transmission.