Inter-Ministerial 'Small Business Livelihood Damage Policy Response Team' Activated

1st Meeting of the Policy Response Team for Small Business Livelihood Damage Held on the 11th

On the 11th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it held the first meeting of the 'Policy Response Team for Small Business Livelihood Damage' together with 5 central government ministries, 13 regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration offices, and 8 regional headquarters of the Small Enterprise and Market Service.

The response team was formed to discuss countermeasures against the four major livelihood damages that small business owners complained about at the public discussion on the 2nd, including no-shows, illegal advertisements, malicious reviews/comments, and concerns over unreasonable disposable product fines. The team is led by the Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and operated with working-level members including directors from related ministries such as the Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Environment, Korea Communications Commission, Fair Trade Commission, and the National Police Agency.

On the 11th, the 1st meeting of the 'Small Business Livelihood Damage Policy Response Team' was held at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in Sejong. Provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

At the first meeting, the operation plan of the response team was discussed along with the current status of the four major livelihood damages in the small business sector and each ministry’s countermeasures. The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to strengthen the legal binding force of dispute mediation by establishing a legal basis for the Online Advertising Dispute Mediation Committee to respond to damages caused by illegal and unfair advertisements targeting small business owners. Additionally, to prevent damages caused by excessive penalties, it will collaborate with related ministries to establish 'Standard Terms and Conditions for Advertising Agencies' and publish an 'Online Advertising Contract Guide.'

The Ministry of Environment will revise related guidelines to ensure that small business owners are not fined when customers who ordered takeout change their minds and use disposable products inside the store, and will actively inform about these revisions. The Korea Communications Commission will expand the application of 'efforts to protect users related to the management of malicious reviews' to services such as shopping and delivery in the 2025 user protection task evaluation to prevent damages to small business owners caused by malicious reviews and to encourage systematic protection by service providers.

The Fair Trade Commission will conduct a thorough investigation into the increasing damages in the dining industry caused by no-shows after restaurant reservations and will prepare improvement measures for consumer dispute resolution standards related to this issue. The National Police Agency will strictly investigate illegal acts against small business owners such as obstruction of business, defamation, and fraud caused by no-shows, malicious reviews, and illegal advertising agency activities.

Starting from this day, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will fully operate the 'Small Business On-site Difficulty Reception Center' together with 13 regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration offices and 77 regional centers of the Small Enterprise and Market Service. Through the reception center, various on-site difficulties related to livelihood damages of small business owners will be collected, and cases requiring investigation will be actively transferred to law enforcement authorities. Furthermore, by forming consultative bodies with cooperative organizations, the ministry plans to promptly prepare the 'Small Business Rights Charter' and strengthen the institutional foundation by reflecting efforts to respond to malicious and false reviews in the win-win growth evaluation.

Kim Seong-seop, Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “Small business owners have faced many management difficulties due to the challenging domestic and international economic conditions combined with livelihood damages such as no-shows and illegal advertisements.” He added, “We will do our best to eradicate the chronic livelihood damages of small business owners by continuously cooperating with related ministries.”