[Exclusive] Government to Draw Up Safeguards for Small Businesses over Early-Morning Delivery by Large Discount Stores... "Considering Expanded Supply Opportunities"

MSIT reviewing win-win measures... Gathering opinions from small business owners
Plans discussed to expand supply opportunities for small businesses
Traditional market merchants: "We will block the legislation itself"

As the ruling party, the government, and the presidential office have recently begun legislative moves to remove regulations on early-morning delivery by large discount stores, the government has started preparing complementary measures for small business owners and traditional market merchants who are expected to suffer direct damage. While it agrees on the need to ease regulations in line with the changed retail ecosystem, its policy direction is to focus on establishing safeguards to minimize harm to small business owners.

Merchants are steaming corn and waiting for customers at Jungang Market in Wansan-gu, Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. Yonhap News

According to related industries and the government on the 6th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is currently reviewing complementary measures to minimize damage to small business owners and traditional market merchants, based on the impact that the revision of the Distribution Industry Development Act (Distribution Act), being pushed mainly by the National Assembly and the government, will have on them. If early-morning delivery by large discount stores becomes a reality, order volumes are expected to increase significantly compared to the present, so a key alternative under discussion is to expand and guarantee opportunities for small business owners to supply goods to large discount stores. The ministry plans to collect opinions from organizations such as the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise and the Korea Merchant Association, and then flesh out the related measures.

An official at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, "If early-morning delivery by large discount stores begins, we are considering win-win measures focused on sectors whose business areas are highly likely to shrink, and looking at what kinds of benefits we can provide," adding, "We are continuing to meet with small business organizations and listen to their difficulties and opinions."

On the 4th, the Democratic Party of Korea and the government discussed a reform agenda centered on resolving regulations on early-morning delivery by large discount stores at a working-level meeting held at the Export-Import Bank of Korea in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The current Distribution Act includes a provision restricting the business hours of large discount stores from midnight to 10 a.m. The idea is to add an exception clause stating that "this shall not apply to business activities for electronic commerce," thereby allowing early-morning delivery. The business-hour restrictions on large discount stores were introduced in 2013 to protect neighborhood commercial districts and small business owners, and the sunset clause has since been extended twice. In September 2025, a bill led by the Democratic Party to extend the sunset of the regulation until November 2029 also passed.

However, as a result, only e-commerce companies that exploited loopholes in the law have been able to scale up, which appears to have raised awareness of the need to revise the relevant legislation. The recent personal data leak incident at Coupang, which brought the issue of platform market monopolies to the forefront, is also seen as having had an impact. A Democratic Party lawmaker who attended the working-level meeting explained, "Recently, the gap between online and offline markets has been widening continuously, and from the sense of crisis that 'it cannot go on like this,' there was a broad discussion on the entire distribution industry."

Meanwhile, organizations such as the Korea Merchant Association have stated that, regardless of any additional government measures, they will seek to block the legislation itself, suggesting that significant friction lies ahead. The Korea Merchant Association is reportedly planning to visit the National Assembly to meet Democratic Party lawmakers and convey its position. Chairman Lee Chunghwan said, "Our position is that the legislation itself must not proceed, regardless of the government's complementary measures. This is not a concept of giving and receiving something in a marketplace-like transaction," adding, "Allowing early-morning delivery by large discount stores is like trying to rein in Coupang by sacrificing 700,000 traditional market merchants. If the legislative push gains full momentum, we will not rule out collective action."