[2025 Supplementary Budget] Ministry of SMEs, Trade Risk, Livelihood, and AI Allocated 5 Trillion Won

Supplementary Budget Finalized at Cabinet Meeting on the 18th
To Be Submitted to the National Assembly

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to support small business owners and SMEs focusing on three major areas: responding to trade risks, restoring livelihoods, and addressing artificial intelligence (AI) through a supplementary budget of 5 trillion won.

On the 18th, the government announced that it will submit the 2025 supplementary budget, finalized through a Cabinet meeting, to the National Assembly. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has prepared a supplementary budget of 5.0112 trillion won to overcome domestic and international crises such as trade issues, wildfire damage, sluggish domestic demand recovery, and AI-driven technological competition.

First, it will focus on supporting export SMEs facing difficulties due to U.S. tariff measures and other trade risks. A new "Trade Risk Response Emergency Fund" of 100 billion won will be established to ease the financial burden of SMEs engaged in U.S. tariff-affected industries or exporting to the U.S., with support measures including preferential interest rates, grace periods, and maturity extensions to alleviate funding pressures. Additionally, 100 billion won will be allocated to diversify export markets and enter new markets to strengthen SMEs' global competitiveness, and 500 billion won will be supplied to provide emergency liquidity to SMEs experiencing temporary management difficulties.

To ensure rapid liquidity supply, a total of 4.5 trillion won worth of "Special Guarantees for Crisis Companies" will be newly established through the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation. Furthermore, 89.8 billion won will be additionally invested in the Export Voucher Program to enhance the global response capabilities of export SMEs, and 10 billion won will be allocated to support costs for acquiring overseas certification standards required by export destination countries.

Various projects to restore the livelihoods of small business owners suffering from trade risks, wildfire damage, and rising prices will also be newly introduced. To alleviate fixed cost burdens and provide liquidity to micro small business owners with annual sales under 300 million won, a new project called "Small Business Owner Burden Reduction Credit" will be established with a budget of 1.57 trillion won, providing 500,000 won credits. To expand sales in traditional markets and among small business owners, which are core to the livelihood economy, the "Win-Win Payback" project will be funded with 1.37 trillion won, reimbursing 20% of the increase in card spending compared to the previous year with digital Onnuri gift certificates. To ease management difficulties for small business owners with medium to low credit who had trouble securing short-term operating funds, a "Small Business Owner Biz Plus Card" will be newly introduced, issuing a purchase-only credit card with a limit of 10 million won. This card offers a six-month interest-free installment benefit to minimize financial costs.

Additionally, to support stable business operations of small business owners, policy funds for small business owners will be expanded by 500 billion won, and new guarantee supply worth 2 trillion won will be increased through regional credit guarantee foundations. An additional 49.4 billion won will be invested in the "Hope Return Package" project to enable rapid recovery of small business owners. A 10% rebate event for digital Onnuri gift certificates targeting traditional markets and shopping districts will be promoted for five months to stimulate consumption.

To respond to rapid changes in new technologies such as AI, plans include supporting technology innovation scale-up for AI sector SMEs and promoting the adoption and utilization of AI technologies in smart factories. To this end, the Scale-up TIPS program, an R&D program linked with private investment to help promising AI technology companies with advanced technical skills enhance their competitiveness and scale up, will be expanded. Additionally, support will be provided for manufacturing robots, process automation establishment, and cloud solution development to facilitate the application and spread of AI technology in small manufacturing sites.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to swiftly implement support projects so that small business owners and SMEs, who are in urgent need of assistance, can quickly improve their business environment through this supplementary budget. Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, "Through this supplementary budget, we plan to actively support small business owners and SMEs struggling with U.S. tariff measures, wildfire damage, and a sluggish domestic economy to resolve their management difficulties and restore vitality."