Suncheon-si Small Business Disaster Relief Fund Application to Boost Alley Economy Concludes

Support Targets for Small Business Disaster Relief Fund Confirmed at 19,741 Companies, Total Budget of 39.4 Billion KRW

Small Business Support System Ahead of Government? Resolving Blind Spots with Administrative Support for Digitally Vulnerable G

[Suncheon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Suncheon City in Jeollanam-do announced on the 3rd that it has completed the application process for the small business disaster relief fund, which was conducted from March 28 to the 29th of last month.

The scale of this support fund is 2 million KRW per business, the highest amount nationwide.

Excluding the 13,418 businesses that received the rapid payment without a separate application process (those eligible for Jeonnam Province small business daily recovery support as of December 2021), 6,672 small business owners applied through in-person visits.

The city completed the first payment with a pre-secured budget of 33 billion KRW for 16,604 out of 20,090 businesses, and plans to complete the second payment sequentially by mid-month by injecting an additional 6.4 billion KRW in reserve funds for 3,137 businesses selected as eligible through proof of sales decline and other evidence.

This Suncheon City small business disaster relief fund expanded the number of eligible recipients beyond expectations by adding second-phase quarantine support recipients under the relaxed government guidelines, and by actively addressing blind spots in reporting through Suncheon City’s administration for small-scale self-employed businesses such as barbershops and laundries, as well as digitally vulnerable groups.

Additional small business data reported will be utilized as key policy materials for establishing Suncheon City’s small business policies through sector-specific data analysis, and will be used as basic data for loss compensation at the new government level in the future to ensure no citizens are omitted from compensation.

Son Jeom-sik, Acting Mayor of Suncheon (Vice Mayor of Suncheon City), said, “We expect that this disaster relief fund payment will create a full-fledged synergy with the lifting of social distancing, revitalizing neighborhood commercial districts, and becoming a strong support for small business owners and self-employed people who endured difficult times until the end.”