[Seoul District News] Seongdong-gu to Issue Additional 10 Billion Won Seongdong Love Gift Certificates from 10 AM on the 29th & Issued at 10% Discount to Ease Residents' Financial Burden and Provide Commission Exemption Benefits to Small Businesses ... Yongsan-gu Offers Emergency SME Development Fund Loans up to 20 Million Won per Company ... Gangbuk-gu Supports Special SME Credit Guarantees with 500 Million Won from Shinhan Bank and 6 Billion Won from Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) will issue Seongdong Love Gift Certificates worth 10 billion KRW starting at 10 a.m. on the 29th to welcome winter.
The district has continuously promoted the issuance of Seongdong Love Gift Certificates to overcome the consumption slump caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and soaring inflation.
This issuance is the fourth this year, following 15 billion KRW in January, 10 billion KRW in April, and 12.7 billion KRW in September, with a total of 10 billion KRW to be sold. All previously issued gift certificates worth 37.7 billion KRW have sold out, especially the 12.7 billion KRW issued last September sold out in just 13 minutes on the day of issuance, confirming strong interest from residents.
This time, the Seongdong Love Gift Certificates will be issued at a 10% discount, easing household burdens for residents and providing small business owners with exemption from payment fees, expected to boost local economic consumption and sales, bringing a warm winter to all.
Purchases can be made through five apps: Seoul Pay, Shinhan Play, Shinhan Sol, T-money Pay, and Money Tree, with a monthly limit of 700,000 KRW per person. Purchasers can receive a 30% year-end tax deduction on payments. The certificates can be conveniently used at affiliated stores in Seongdong-gu, including traditional markets, academies, restaurants, and beauty salons, with demand expected to increase further.
Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “I hope this will help reduce household burdens and revive the consumption market so that both residents and small business owners can have a warm winter.”
Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Kyung-ho) will inject vitality into the frozen local commercial district due to inflation and economic recession and reduce residents’ burdens through reasonable consumption by additionally issuing 10 billion KRW worth of ‘Gwangjin Love Gift Certificates’ and 200 million KRW worth of ‘Gwangjin Ttaenggyeoyo Gift Certificates.’
The Gwangjin Love Gift Certificates will start their last sale of the year at 10 a.m. on November 29 with a 10% discount applied.
The purchase limit is 700,000 KRW per person per month, with a maximum holding limit of 2 million KRW, and a 30% year-end income deduction is available. The validity period is five years from the date of purchase.
The Gwangjin Love Gift Certificates have received enthusiastic responses from residents, with 39.4 billion KRW worth of certificates issued twice this year selling out on the same day, leaving consumers who missed the opportunity disappointed.
This time, residents who added the Gwangjin-gu Office KakaoTalk channel as a friend were informed of the issuance news first on the 21st, enabling those seeking reasonable consumption to purchase in a timely manner.
Additionally, a 200 million KRW worth ‘Gwangjin Ttaenggyeoyo Gift Certificates’ boasting a 15% discount rate will also be issued.
The Gwangjin Ttaenggyeoyo Gift Certificates, usable on the Gwangjin-type public delivery app ‘Ttaenggyeoyo,’ will be sold starting at 11 a.m. on December 1, with a monthly purchase limit of 100,000 KRW per person and valid for one year from the purchase date.
The issuance amount of the Gwangjin Ttaenggyeoyo Gift Certificates was doubled to 200 million KRW starting from September this year.
As a result, new subscribers increased by about 8,000 compared to August, mainly among young single-person households, and the total number of subscribers now reaches 30,000, showing great effects in revitalizing neighborhood commercial districts.
Both gift certificates can be purchased through Seoul Pay+, T-money Pay, and Money Tree apps.
The ‘Gwangjin Love Gift Certificates’ can be used at about 10,000 Seoul Pay Plus affiliated stores in Gwangjin-gu, and the ‘Gwangjin Ttaenggyeoyo Gift Certificates’ can be used for payment through the ‘Ttaenggyeoyo’ app.
Kim Kyung-ho, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “I hope this issuance of gift certificates will help increase sales for local small business owners and assist residents struggling with inflation, making for a warm and hopeful year-end and New Year. We will continue to do our best to prepare various policies to revitalize the local economy.”
Yongsan-gu (Mayor Park Hee-young) has decided to support emergency loans totaling 2 billion KRW for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the second half of the year. Additional support will be sought early next year to ease the local economy.
The target is SMEs and small business owners registered in the area, prioritizing those operating store-type businesses in Itaewon 1-dong. However, entertainment bars, financial/insurance/pension/real estate businesses, gambling/luxury/pleasure/gaming businesses are excluded.
SMEs are defined as businesses with five or more regular employees, and small businesses as those with fewer than five employees (fewer than 10 for mining, manufacturing, construction, and transportation).
The loan limit is 20 million KRW per business, which can be used for business operations, technology development, and facility funds.
The interest rate is 1.5% per annum (temporarily 0.8% in 2022), with a loan period of five years, including a two-year grace period and three years of equal repayments.
The application period is from November 24 to December 7. Applicants must visit the Shinhan Bank Itaewon branch’s SME Promotion Fund one-stop service window and submit the required documents for loan support.
Required documents include ▲ SME Promotion Fund loan application form and business plan ▲ financial statements or VAT standard confirmation for the last three years ▲ copy of business registration certificate and documents related to additional points ▲ documents requested by the bank and credit guarantee foundation.
Application forms and related documents can be downloaded from the Yongsan-gu Office website’s notices/announcements section.
An official from the district said, “After consultation with financial institutions, we will relax qualification requirements through special guarantees within the bank’s available scope and provide convenience by accepting applications at the one-stop service window for prompt loan support.”
Afterward, the district will select support recipients through procedures such as on-site inspections of loan applicants and review by the loan review committee.
Priority is given first to applicants operating store-type businesses in Itaewon 1-dong, second to new applicants for the SME Promotion Fund, and third to businesses that have borrowed at least once more than three years ago and have completed repayment. Female entrepreneurs will be prioritized within 10% of the total loan amount. Companies with high community contribution and disabled business owners will also be given preferential treatment.
Park Hee-young, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “We will continue to provide the maximum support possible for small business owners and SMEs expected to experience sales declines due to the Itaewon incident.”
Gangbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Soon-hee) signed a ‘Special Credit Guarantee Business Agreement funded by Shinhan Bank’ on the 23rd with Shinhan Bank and Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation to support management funds for SMEs and small business owners struggling due to the economic downturn.
The special credit guarantee system issues credit guarantees to SMEs with good credit but lacking funds and collateral, enabling them to receive financial support from financial institutions.
The agreement ceremony was held at 3 p.m. in the district office’s planning situation room. Attendees included Lee Soon-hee, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu; Choi Woo-hyun, Head of Shinhan Bank Northern Headquarters; Park Jang-hyuk, Head of Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation Eastern Regional Headquarters; and other officials.
Under this agreement, Shinhan Bank will contribute 500 million KRW as special guarantee funds, and Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation will provide special credit guarantees up to 6 billion KRW, which is 12 times the contribution. Gangbuk-gu will support administrative tasks such as discovering and recommending guarantee target companies and collaborating to revitalize the local economy.
SMEs and small business owners registered in Gangbuk-gu can apply for special credit guarantee support. Applications will close once funds are exhausted.
If selected after screening by the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, recipients can receive loans up to 100 million KRW. Repayment options include a one-year grace period followed by three years of installment repayments or four years of installment repayments.
For more details, contact the Gangbuk-gu Job and Economy Division or the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation Gangbuk branch.
Lee Soon-hee, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, said, “I hope this agreement will be a strong support for small business owners struggling due to recent inflation and interest rate hikes. We will continue to do our best to revitalize Gangbuk-gu’s local economy.”
Last year, Gangbuk-gu also cooperated with the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation to provide guarantee support worth 20 billion KRW, which was quickly exhausted. The support fund included 700 million KRW from Gangbuk-gu, 500 million KRW from Shinhan Bank, and 400 million KRW from two partner banks, totaling 1.6 billion KRW.
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