There Should Be No Public Inconvenience in Repossession Measures
A ruling has been made that it is unfair to reclaim COVID-19 quarantine support funds from small business owners solely because they changed their business registration number.
On the 30th, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced through a press release that it had canceled the Small Enterprise and Market Service's decision to reclaim the first and second rounds of quarantine support funds already paid to small business owners on the grounds that they did not meet the closure date criteria.
Fisherman A, who was engaged in business with a fishing vessel registered in Jeju City, Jeju-do, received a new business registration number in April 2021 when changing the tonnage of his existing fishing vessel. Although there was no need to apply for a new business registration, he mistakenly discarded the existing business registration number and obtained a new one.
Subsequently, A applied for quarantine support funds twice in January and February 2022 and received the first and second rounds of quarantine support funds (1 million KRW and 3 million KRW).
The Small Enterprise and Market Service confirmed in October 2023 that A’s original business registration was closed in May 2021 and notified him to return the quarantine support funds, stating that he did not meet the closure date criteria.
In response, A filed an administrative appeal with the Central Administrative Appeals Commission (CAAC) in November last year, arguing, "I have been continuously engaged in fishing since January 2018, and I only changed my business registration due to a misunderstanding during the process of increasing the vessel’s tonnage. It is harsh to demand the return of the support funds now."
The CAAC judged that the Service’s decision to reclaim the quarantine support funds based solely on the closure date on the business registration certificate, without considering A’s circumstances that could recognize the continuity of the business, was unfair.
Park Jong-min, Chairperson of the Central Administrative Appeals Commission of the ACRC, stated, "Even if reclaiming funds that did not meet the payment requirements afterward aligns with the public interest, since the quarantine support funds initially needed to be paid promptly to help small business owners and small enterprises recover from damages, it is necessary to carefully review the reclaiming process to avoid inconvenience or unfairness to the public."
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