Finance ministry hears small-business owners' closure, restart burdens

South Korea's finance ministry said Thursday that a cross-ministry team supporting small-business owners visited a support center in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, to hear from entrepreneurs who shut down and later reopened, gathering complaints on debt repayment and store-closure costs that the government will weigh in revising its restart program.

The visit, led by Jang Do-hwan, head of the Pan-ministerial Team for Public Livelihood Stability, was organized as small-business owners struggle with prolonged high interest rates, inflation and a slump in domestic demand. The team met at the Dongdaemun Small Business Support Center to discuss the Hope Return Package, which helps owners from closure through re-employment or a new business.

Owners said their biggest difficulties at the point of closure were repaying loans and covering the cost of clearing out their stores. After closing, they cited insufficient household living costs and debt that made economic activity difficult, and they proposed government support for closure expenses, help with reopening or finding work, and loan repayment deferrals and interest relief.

"The government has since 2015 been supporting small-business owners as a package, from closure through employment or starting a business, to improve their management difficulties, ease the burden of closing and enable a swift restart," Jang said. He added that the suggestions raised at the meeting would be reflected in the Hope Return Package and related programs.

After the meeting, Jang visited nearby owners who had reopened. One had closed because of a dispute with a business partner and funding problems, then found a new opportunity in custom products for large dogs and is working on product development and sales channels through the Hope Return Package. Another, despite expertise in coffee, struggled to generate profit and is now working on cost restructuring and diversifying sales channels.