Korea Post Online Shopping Mall Suspended Due to Data Center Fire
Special Sales Events Launched on Gongyoung Home Shopping and Private Platforms
Priority Participation for Over 200 Small Businesses
43 Billion Won in Emergency Online Support Allocated
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Small & Venture Business Distribution Center announced on October 3, 2025, that in order to support small business owners affected by the suspension of the Korea Post online shopping mall, they launched special online sales events on private shopping platforms such as Gongyoung Home Shopping starting September 30, just four days after the fire at the National Information Resources Service data center.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Small & Venture Business Distribution Center took proactive measures by individually calling around 200 affected small businesses to explain the available support. This was done out of concern that, since a large proportion of the products sold by small business owners are agricultural and marine products that cannot be stored for long periods, the sellers could suffer significant losses if alternative sales channels were not secured quickly.
To promote rapid sales, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups decided to urgently allocate 4.3 billion won, which is 37.7% of this year’s 11.4 billion won budget for supporting small businesses entering online shopping malls. In addition, the support limit for discount coupon issuance per company will be temporarily increased from 1.63 million won to 2 million won. Small business owners can negotiate with shopping mall managers to determine the discount rate for each product, and consumers will be able to purchase these products at reduced prices using the discount coupons.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, "We prioritized participation for 238 small businesses whose contact information was available due to their previous involvement in our support programs," and added, "For additional affected small businesses, we plan to hold a second sales event as soon as we secure their contact information in cooperation with the Korea Post."
Seo Byungman, CEO of Yakseon Food, which is participating in the special sales event, said, "Sales through the Korea Post online shopping mall accounted for half of our total sales, but thanks to this government support, we are now able to offer significant discounts on our existing products. I believe we will be able to recover a considerable portion of the lost sales caused by the suspension of the Korea Post online shopping mall service."
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