Yeosu City Launches 111 Billion KRW Investment to Support Livelihood Economy

Small Business Owners?SMEs, Support for Vulnerable Groups, etc.

55 Projects in 5 Areas, Full Effort to Revitalize the Economy

Yeosu City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Jeong Gi-myeong) plans to inject 111 billion KRW into supporting the people’s economy this year, even under a sound fiscal policy, providing relief to the livelihoods of ordinary citizens.

In response to the ongoing economic recession, high interest rates, and high inflation that have been burdening the people’s economy, the city has prepared countermeasures that all citizens can feel, aiming to accelerate the recovery of livelihoods and revitalize the local economy by fully committing to policy implementation.

[Photo by Yeosu City]

The ‘People’s Economy Support Policy’ will be implemented through 55 projects across five main areas: ▲support for small business owners ▲support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) ▲support for vulnerable groups ▲job creation ▲housing and living expense support.

▲Active promotion of support projects for small business owners, who play a leading role in the local economy

The city will expand the issuance scale of Yeosu Sarang Gift Certificates from 70 billion KRW last year to 80 billion KRW this year, applying a permanent 10% discount rate on card-type certificates to encourage consumption at small business stores within the region.

During the recent Lunar New Year holiday, a special 15% discount on gift certificates was offered, resulting in a complete sell-out of the allocated amount within five days, demonstrating strong citizen participation. Building on this success, the city plans to further expand the usage locations of the gift certificates through on-site registration visits by district.

Additionally, the city will invest approximately 3.6 billion KRW in traditional markets and local shopping districts struggling amid the recession, promoting facility modernization projects in Jin-nam Shopping District and the seafood specialty market, and supporting the ‘Specialized Market Development Project’ to attract younger generations to local shopping areas, thereby revitalizing the local commercial sector.

Furthermore, incentives worth 100 million KRW will be provided to 105 reasonably priced businesses, and about 1.9 billion KRW in management stabilization funds will be offered to small business owners, including yellow umbrella insurance subscription encouragement payments, loans, and interest difference compensation.

▲Promoting management stability and growth of SMEs during the ongoing high interest rate period

To alleviate the financial burden on SMEs, the city will recommend loans up to 200 million KRW per company annually and subsidize part of the interest on bank loans totaling 80 billion KRW. Notably, this year, new preferential support targets have been added, and overlapping support is possible depending on conditions.

Alongside this, a customized corporate support program worth up to 10 million KRW will be operated for 15 SMEs facing management difficulties, and a ‘Star Company Development Project’ to discover promising technology SMEs will be implemented, providing a total of 1 billion KRW in support to strengthen competitiveness and growth.

▲Providing various services such as heating, education, and cultural expenses to vulnerable groups

In response to the recent surge in public energy prices, energy vouchers will be provided to approximately 6,500 households of basic livelihood security recipients and near-poverty groups to alleviate the burden of heating costs including electricity, gas, and kerosene.

For the first time this year, vouchers of 100,000 KRW per month will be given to 125 middle and high school students from low-income households in the city to reduce education expenses and support active career development.

The Cultural Nuri Card and Hope Voucher, aimed at bridging cultural gaps for basic livelihood security recipients aged 9 and above, legally defined near-poverty groups, multicultural families, and North Korean defectors, will continue this year with a budget of 1.9 billion KRW targeting about 15,500 people.

▲Expanding customized jobs by demographic groups such as the elderly, youth, and women

The city has allocated a record-high budget of 29.3 billion KRW for elderly job creation and social activity support projects, employing about 9,600 seniors and actively supporting their social participation and stable retirement life.

For employment stability of vulnerable groups, 4.1 billion KRW will be invested in public jobs and community jobs, providing employment to approximately 760 people to promote livelihood stability and improve work capacity.

The annual administrative internship program for unemployed youth has been revamped this year into the ‘Youth Intern’ program with significantly expanded eligibility and participant numbers, offering customized jobs to 400 general youth.

In addition, the city will actively promote youth employment and entrepreneurship support projects such as the region-led youth job project, customized employment counseling for women with career interruptions, employee training, and entrepreneurship preparation education.

▲Focused housing cost support for youth and newlyweds

The ‘Zero Rent Housing Support’ project, targeting youth and newlywed couples with weak economic independence, is a new priority project implemented by the city this year.

Youth aged 18 to 45 or newlywed couples married less than seven years who meet certain income and other conditions can receive rental housing support for up to six years.

Along with this, support for housing for newlywed couples and large families, interest support for newlywed housing lease loans, and guarantee fee support for youth lease deposit return guarantees will also be promoted,

and additionally, housing stability funds worth 12 billion KRW will be provided to 9,200 households including low-income and disabled groups vulnerable in housing.

Mayor Jeong Gi-myeong of Yeosu said, “For Yeosu City to grow and develop, stabilization of people’s livelihoods must come first,” adding, “We will swiftly implement people’s economy support policies that take care of citizens’ lives and continuously discover effective support measures that resonate with citizens through on-site communication.”