Seongdong-gu Holds Joint Emergency Economic Meeting with Local Small Business Owners

Emergency Meeting Held at Seongdong-gu Chamber of Commerce Office on the 12th at 10 AM to Overcome Economic Crisis
Local Small and Medium Business Owners and Small Merchants Say "Recent Crisis Severely Impacts Economy... Hope for Quick Stabilization and Recovery"
Jung Won-oh, Seongdong-gu Mayor, Pledges Unwavering Support for Local Small Merchants and Self-Employed in Crisis

Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) recently assessed the current state of the local economy, which has been stiffened by the emergency martial law situation, and held a “Seongdong-gu?Seongdong-gu Chamber of Commerce Joint Emergency Economic Meeting” at 10 a.m. on the 12th at the Seongdong-gu Chamber of Commerce Secretariat to share major projects being promoted in Seongdong-gu to stabilize the local economy.

Since the emergency martial law situation on the 3rd, consumer sentiment has sharply contracted, exacerbating difficulties for self-employed individuals and small business owners.

In response, the district held an urgent emergency economic meeting with the Seongdong-gu Chamber of Commerce, the largest livelihood economic organization in the area, to gauge the economic crisis awareness of livelihood economic actors such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners, and to share the district’s operational plans for stabilizing the local economy.

At the meeting, local SMEs and small business owners gathered and unanimously expressed that they are experiencing difficulties in business activities due to the recent situation. One SME owner said, “Payments that were supposed to come in from overseas buyers immediately after this incident have been suspended,” adding, “Exports from companies in countries experiencing wars, such as Russia, are proceeding without issues, so I felt that this also impacts the national prestige.”

Another SME owner said, “I run a business planning events for companies, but all year-end and New Year events have been completely stopped (all-stop) due to this incident.”

A local small business owner working in the food service industry also stated, “This incident occurred around the year-end peak season when wallets usually open, causing great damage to small business owners and self-employed individuals,” and added, “I hope the chaotic situation stabilizes soon and the frozen economy recovers.”

Seongdong-gu also announced plans to continue pushing forward key policies next year to support small business owners, who are suffering significant damage during the year-end special season due to prolonged domestic demand stagnation and increased economic risk from political uncertainty. These policies include ▲ expanding loan support scale and extending repayment deadlines for SMEs ▲ early issuance of Seongdong Love Gift Certificates ▲ implementing price stabilization measures and promoting consumption in traditional markets ▲ revitalizing the Seongdong-type public delivery app.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, expressed deep regret over the significant damage suffered by SMEs, small business owners, and self-employed individuals who have been experiencing a prolonged economic downturn since COVID-19 due to this series of incidents, stating, “We will deeply reflect on the voices from the field that we heard vividly this time and do our utmost to overcome the economic crisis in this emergency situation.”