This photo, taken on Sept. 6, 2020, shows a sign about the temporary closure of a store in the traditional Gwangjang Market in central Seoul as small merchants suffer amid a flare-up in new coronavirus cases. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — With South Korea’s self-employed and small businesses going through extremely tough times due to the resurgence of COVID-19, nationwide efforts are underway to help them overcome the hardships.
A 39-year-old woman surnamed Kim who runs a small donut shop in Seoul has suffered from sluggish sales since the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases.
She decided to give unsold donuts to her neighbors for free and posted a message informing them of such on an online community for the residents of the apartment complex in Incheon where she lives.
After reading the message, her neighbors started posting encouraging comments and united forces to make group buying as a way to help the self-employed.
“Thanks to their strong help and attention, I achieved my weekly revenue goal in just a single day. This helped me to have a stronger will to endure the hardships,” Kim said.
The so-called ‘good-hearted rent reduction campaign’ that started spreading throughout the country from March is still ongoing after the resurgence of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Jeonbuk Bank based in the country’s southwestern city of Jeonju, for example, decided to lower the rental fee for all the tenants in its main building by 30 percent by the end of this month.
During its participation in the campaign over the past six months from March to August, the bank lowered rent by 30 percent for a total of 15 tenants.
Jeonbuk Bank is not alone. The Gwangju Metropolitan Government also plans to lower the rent for those who use the city government’s administrative properties for five months from August to December.
The Busan Metropolitan Government intends to launch a program to provide incentives to building owners who lower rent for tenants.
The South Jeolla Provincial Government decided to extend the duration of its program designed to alleviate the burden of farmers by lowering the rental fee for agricultural machinery by 50 percent until the end of this year.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
