This Year's First 'Donghaeng Festival' Starts from the 1st of Next Month... Up to 90% Discount

Promoting Small and Medium Enterprise Products in Connection with Nationwide Regional Events
Opening Ceremony Held on the 1st in Haeundae, Busan

The first ‘Donghaeng Festival’ of this year will be held both online and offline from the 1st to the 28th of next month. To revitalize the local economy and domestic demand, promotional events for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners’ products will be conducted in connection with events nationwide, and a ‘Donghaeng Special Sale’ offering discounts of up to 90% will be introduced.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 25th, Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, announced the plan for the May Donghaeng Festival at the Government Seoul Office.

First, products from SMEs and small business owners will be sold in connection with regional festivals and events held nationwide next month. Starting with the Icheon ‘Ceramics Festival (3rd?6th)’ and Boseong ‘Dahyang Grand Festival (3rd?7th)’, the festival will expand to 50 locations nationwide including Daegu ‘Yakryeongsi Oriental Medicine Culture Festival (8th?12th)’, Namwon ‘Chunhyang Festival (10th?16th)’, and Goesan ‘Red Flavor Festival (24th?26th)’. This is an increase of 20 locations compared to last year’s 30.

For agricultural, livestock, and marine products, which have recently become burdensome due to rising prices, discount markets will be held in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. During the festival period, about 60 traditional markets will also hold Onnuri gift certificate refund events when purchasing seafood and processed seafood products.

Through policy distribution channels such as Public Home Shopping, a ‘Donghaeng Special Sale’ will be held offering daily or weekly discounts of 50?90% on daily necessities, kitchenware, fashion, and sports goods. Major private online shopping malls, as well as about 90 public shopping malls operated by government and local governments, will issue discount coupons, hold time-limited special sales, and special exhibitions on platforms such as T and live commerce.

Additionally, eight online-to-offline (O2O) platform companies including Yogiyo, Zigzag, 11st, and KT, along with local government public delivery applications, will support small business stores with discount coupons and advertisements. Baedal Minjok will also issue discount coupons for use at nationwide store delivery partners until the 7th of next month.

Three hundred participating companies’ products, selected as representative products of the Donghaeng Festival after overcoming a competition ratio of 4 to 1, can be purchased through the official Donghaeng Festival website at prices below 30,000 KRW. For both domestic and overseas sales, about 800 excellent SME products will be promoted with discount promotions on eight global distribution platforms (Amazon, Tmall, Rakuten, Shopee, etc.) and in connection with the Korean Wave cultural event ‘KCON JAPAN 2024’.

Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups

During the festival period, up to 10% discounts will be offered when paying with BC Card at 30,000 small merchant locations nationwide and about 1,300 ‘Baeknyeon Gage’ (Century-old stores). NH Nonghyup Card users can also receive a 10% discount (up to 10,000 KRW per month) when using NH Pay MyCatch at ‘Baeknyeon Gage’ stores. Through an agreement between the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and five card companies (Shinhan, Nonghyup, Woori, Samsung, Hyundai), benefits such as a 2,000 KRW refund will be provided when paying 10,000 KRW or more by card for meals at 7,000 ‘Good Price Stores’ nationwide.

In May, ‘Paldo Market Tourist Trains’ will operate on ten routes so that visitors can purchase goods at Paldo markets and enjoy regional festivals. About 30 cultural tourism traditional markets will hold ‘Kids Market Day’ where children can experience making crafts and shopping.

The festival’s promotional models were selected from SMEs and small business owners who are closely connected to and familiar with the daily lives of the public. Along with this, 21 university student supporters and 50 ‘K-Global Correspondents’ will promote the festival overall.

To encourage interest and participation in the festival, popular social media challenges will be used, including the ‘Eusha Eusha Donghaeng Dance Challenge’ and the ‘Donghaeng Nae Cut Certification Shot Challenge’ featuring hand hearts.

This year’s slogan is ‘Happy Shopping That Makes Life Worth Living’ 2024 Donghaeng Festival. It signifies that the public can buy good products at affordable prices, SMEs and small business owners can increase sales, and everyone becomes happy. The opening ceremony of the Donghaeng Festival will be held on the 1st of next month at Gunan-ro Square in Haeundae-gu, Busan.

Minister Oh said, “I hope this Donghaeng Festival will revive the sluggish consumer sentiment and serve as an opportunity to stimulate domestic demand,” adding, “Please visit nearby alleyway markets, traditional markets, and regional festivals next month, enjoy them, and purchase products from SMEs and small business owners so that it becomes a festival where everyone is happy.”