Finance minister tours discount festival as Korea pushes consumer spending

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il visited a Happy Department Store in Mokdong, western Seoul, on Friday to inspect a clearance sale for small and mid-sized suppliers being held as part of the Korea Grand Festival, the finance ministry said.

The festival, now in its second year, runs for 18 days from Oct. 29 to Nov. 15 and consolidates discount events previously run separately by individual ministries into a single nationwide shopping season. About 40,000 companies, including large corporations, small and mid-sized firms and independent shop owners, are taking part.

The Mokdong event, called the Happy Inventory Discount Fair, is hosted by the store that was set up to give smaller suppliers a route to market. During the festival period it offers shoppers cut-price goods while helping participating firms clear inventory.

Lee, accompanied by Second Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Byung-kwon and other officials, toured the aisles, examined discounted clothing and household goods, and made purchases himself. He also spoke with shoppers who had come for the bargains.

"The Korean economy is building a footing for recovery on the back of recent export improvement and better investment, but what matters most is that the warmth of that growth seeps deep into the alley business districts and into every corner of people's daily lives," Lee said.

He said he hoped frugal spending like the Happy Inventory Discount Fair, which offers solid support to small businesses and the self-employed, would spread across the country. He added that each citizen's spending is the biggest engine making the economy vibrant and urged people to visit festival venues near them.

Second Vice Minister Lee Byung-kwon said the Korea Grand Festival is the country's largest sale, drawing participation from large companies, small businesses and independent shop owners. He said organizers would work to make it an event that gives shoppers the pleasure of value-minded buying, merchants the joy of higher sales and local areas a lift.