▲ President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) visits a booth at the small business owners' convention at the KINTEX exhibition hall in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul, on Nov. 3, 2023. (Yonhap)

Yoon-small biz owners

Yoon vows greater support for small biz owners

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Friday to provide greater support to small business owners by offering low-interest loans and waiving clawbacks of pandemic handouts.

Yoon made the remark while attending a small business owners' convention at the KINTEX exhibition hall in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul, which brought together some 2,000 people from diverse industries, including restaurant and hairdressing businesses.

Yoon said his aides and staff recently made dozens of field visits to look for ways to ease people's hardships, while his administration earmarked 4 trillion won (US$3 billion) in next year's budget to fund low-interest loans.

He also vowed to waive 800 billion won in clawbacks of advance handouts given to small business owners and self-employed people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision was announced earlier this week following a meeting between the government, the presidential office and the ruling People Power Party, as current laws require the relief money to be returned in the event of an increase in sales.

Yoon also said the government will allow gas bills to be paid in installments and assist the replacement of 64,000 worn-down air conditioning and heating units.

Yoon was the first president to attend the convention that marked its 18th year this year, according to his office.

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