Uijeongbu City Omits 'Recommendation Process' for Special Guarantee, Cutting Financial Support Time by Up to 10 Days for Small Businesses

Uijeongbu City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Kim Donggeun) announced on January 14 that it has completely abolished the recommendation letter issuance process, which was previously required for special guarantee support for small business owners, in cooperation with the Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation. This move aims to reduce the burden on local small business owners struggling with funding shortages.

Exterior view of Uijeongbu City Hall. Provided by Uijeongbu City

This measure was implemented to eliminate unnecessary administrative steps and enable faster financial support.

Previously, small business owners seeking to use the special guarantee had to apply for a recommendation letter from the city, which would then issue the letter to the foundation. This process involved document transfers and verification, resulting in delays that placed a burden on small business owners in urgent need of funds.

According to a survey of small business owners in Gyeonggi Province, satisfaction with the "convenience of the support process" among credit guarantee service items was the lowest at 64.9%. This has led to ongoing calls for institutional improvements.

Reflecting these on-the-ground opinions, the city accepted the foundation's request for improvement and adjusted its operating system to omit the recommendation letter application and submission process.

Under the improved system, once the foundation issues a special guarantee certificate, it is considered as having received the city's recommendation. Instead of administrative oversight, the foundation will send the list of supported recipients to the city for verification, thus shifting to a post-management system.

Uijeongbu City conducted a three-month pilot operation from October to December 2025, and based on this, fully implemented the new system in January 2026. With this improvement, the time required for administrative procedures such as document transfers has been reduced by about 10 days, allowing small business owners to access funds more quickly.

An official from Uijeongbu City stated, "By streamlining the repetitive administrative procedures in the special guarantee support process, we have enabled small business owners to receive financial support more quickly. We will continue to review and improve systems to ensure tangible benefits are felt in the field."