This Year's First Donghaeng Festival Starts from the 1st of Next Month... "4 Trillion Won Sales Plan" (Comprehensive)

‘Donghaeng Special Sale’ with up to 90% Discount
Discounts Offered in Partnership with Card Companies
This Year's Slogan: ‘Happy Shopping That Makes Life Worth Living’

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 across the country, and a ‘Donghaeng Special Sale’ offering discounts of up to 90% will be introduced. The total sales target for the three Donghaeng Festivals held this year is 4 trillion KRW.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is cheering while taking a commemorative photo with small business promotion models at the briefing for the "May Together Festival" held on the afternoon of the 25th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 25th, Oh Young-joo, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated at a briefing on the May Donghaeng Festival promotion plan held at the Government Seoul Office, “The May Donghaeng Festival is being prepared as an opportunity to spend time with family and express warm feelings to those we appreciate, in line with Family Month and SME Week, and as a campaign to invigorate SMEs and small business owners.”

Minister Oh added, “Household concerns are high due to burdens such as loan interest and rising prices of agricultural products. SMEs and small business owners are also facing deepening distrust as sales slump due to weakened consumer sentiment. At times like this, it is necessary for companies’ sales to replace economic vitality.”

First, this Donghaeng Festival will sell products from SMEs and small business owners in connection with regional festivals and events held nationwide. Starting with the Icheon ‘Ceramics Festival (3rd?6th)’ and Boseong ‘Dahyang Grand Festival (3rd?7th),’ the festival will be held in 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 20 more locations than last year’s 30.

For agricultural, livestock, and marine products, which have recently become burdensome due to price increases, a discount market will be held in cooperation 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 a refund event for Onnuri gift certificates 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. Discount coupons, time-limited specials, and special exhibitions will be conducted at about 90 major private online shopping malls and government/local government-operated public shopping malls, as well as T-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 using stores registered in nationwide delivery services until the 7th of next month.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is giving a briefing on the "May Together Festival" on the afternoon of the 25th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

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

During the festival period, up to 10% discounts will be offered when paying with BC Card at 30,000 SME-affiliated stores 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 My Catch 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 at ten locations so that visitors can ride tourist trains, shop at Paldo markets, and enjoy local festivals together. 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 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. Jo Yoon-sik, CEO of Pobangteo Jjukkumi, selected as a Donghaeng Festival model, said at the briefing, “I am participating in the Donghaeng Festival again this year following last year. Since last year’s results were good, I wanted to inform other small business owners and applied as a model.”

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

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 event of the Donghaeng Festival will be held on the 1st of next month at Gunan-ro Square in Haeundae-gu, Busan.

The total sales target for this year’s Donghaeng Festival is 4 trillion KRW. The festival will also be held in September and December, in addition to May. Minister Oh said, “Last year, the Donghaeng Festival generated sales of about 4 trillion KRW. We are starting this year with the same target of 4 trillion KRW.” Last year’s sales performance for the three Donghaeng Festivals was 3.9925 trillion KRW.