'On-site Meeting to Resolve Regulations and Difficulties in Seoul Area'
Seoul's 4 Autonomous Districts Accept Requests for Ordinance Amendments
The ordinances of four Seoul autonomous districts (Gangnam-gu, Jungnang-gu, Eunpyeong-gu, Songpa-gu), which had difficulty being designated as alley-type shopping districts due to excessive standards, will be improved.
The Small and Medium Business Ombudsman announced on the 18th that it held the '2024 Seoul Area Regulation and Difficulty Resolution On-site Meeting' at the Small Enterprise and Market Service Dream Square Education Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and led these improvements. Based on the proposals, the designation requirements for alley-type shopping districts, which previously required submission of consent forms from building and landowners, are expected to be relaxed.
This meeting was organized to bring together small and medium enterprises and small business owners in Seoul to listen to regulatory and difficulty issues faced in the business field. Among the proposals from small and medium enterprises and small business owners in Seoul, 13 tasks were intensively discussed.
At the meeting, the chairman of the A Merchants Association of the Eunpyeong-gu alley-type shopping district requested the relaxation of designation requirements and simplification of procedures. The designation requirements for alley-type shopping districts are set by ordinances in each local government, but some local governments have established somewhat excessive standards, making it difficult for merchants in those areas to be designated as alley-type shopping districts.
Accordingly, the Ombudsman reviewed the ordinances of 25 autonomous districts within Seoul and judged that the designation requirements for alley-type shopping districts in Gangnam-gu, Jungnang-gu, Eunpyeong-gu, and Songpa-gu were set somewhat excessively. Unlike most autonomous districts where only consent forms from 'merchants operating stores within the area' need to be submitted, these four districts additionally require submission of consent forms from a certain percentage of landowners and building owners when applying for designation.
The Ombudsman requested these local governments to amend their ordinances and received acceptance from all. Gangnam-gu, Jungnang-gu, and Eunpyeong-gu plan to amend their ordinances within the year, and Songpa-gu decided to amend its ordinance as soon as possible through collecting opinions from related parties.
There was also a request for improvement regarding the quality management audit standards (GMP) for software medical devices of healthcare startups. Company B, which provides digital therapeutics, stated that they are facing difficulties because the evaluation method for software medical device usability has not been established during the current GMP audit.
In response, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the relevant authority, replied that it has already published guidelines for evaluating software medical device usability to establish the evaluation method and is supporting the resolution of difficulties. They also explained plans to prepare and distribute item-specific guidelines for software medical devices within this year.
In addition, the meeting included various proposals such as ▲expanding the recognition scope of medical device product groups ▲easing the burden of export cargo loading management and fines for e-commerce ▲expanding participation of small and medium enterprises in new industry startup support projects ▲extending employment periods for foreign workers and revising employment permit system standards for the restaurant industry (E-9) ▲reconsidering employment ratio standards for vulnerable groups in social enterprises ▲and revising the criteria for the scope of small business owners.
Kim Hee-sun, head of the Ombudsman support team, said, "We achieved results by not stopping at a single proposal but by collecting and investigating similar types of unreasonable regulations and solving them together," adding, "We will continue follow-up support to ensure that the tasks discussed at this meeting lead to regulatory improvements that can be felt on the ground."
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