(Unofficial translation)

I am glad to meet you all. I understand many of you may have found it difficult to step away from your businesses. I am grateful to you for taking time out of your tight schedules. Last week, we celebrated Lunar New Year’s Day. I wish you abundant blessings and success with your businesses throughout the year. 

I am the son of a corner-shop retailer. When I was young, my parents ran a shop selling coal briquettes. On weekends or during vacations, I used to help my mother by pulling a briquette-laden cart or making deliveries on my own. Just a child at that time, I was ashamed of having my whole body covered in soot; the hard work didn’t matter. As for my parents, how must they have felt about needing their children to work?

During that period, however, Koreans commonly scraped out a living for their families in such a manner and managed to find hope. I believe the life of mom-and-pop business owners and the self-employed must still be pretty much the same. My Administration will do as much as it can to enable you to harbor hope for tomorrow even though you face hardships today.  

On five occasions since the inauguration, my Administration has put in place measures to help the self-employed and microbusiness owners who face difficulties. 

The Government has provided support through a job stabilization fund and assistance in the form of social insurance contribution payments totaling 11 trillion won. It has also worked hard to reduce the strain of costs on the self-employed by slashing credit card processing fees. Protections for commercial leases have been strengthened by capping rent increases, extending the period that tenants have the right to request contract renewal and raising the amount of security deposits covered by guarantees. In addition, financing in the amount of six trillion won has been provided to assist their management stability. 

However, the self-employed and microbusiness owners are still struggling amid difficult conditions. While competition intensifies because of overcrowded markets, exorbitant rents for leasing commercial property and high franchise fees are imposing an enormous burden on management. Making matters worse, increases in minimum wages might have actually aggravated hardships. 

As of the end of last year, the number of the self-employed and microbusiness owners in Korea stood at 5.64 million. If 1.1 million relatives who work without pay are included, they account for 25 percent of the total number of employed people, 26.82 million. To put it in another way, a quarter of everyone employed either work for themselves or microbusiness owners. 

Therefore, self-employed businesses are an important pillar of our economy. Given the number of the self-employed and microbusiness owners, I think it is only proper to consider them an entity worthy of a separate economic policy. 

It has so far been common to regard the self-employed as managers in the labor-management dichotomy that identifies economic players. However, the self-employed play both roles. They are called CEOs, but in actuality many of them are self-employed workers. The incomes of the middle- and lower-class self-employed are below those of the average hired employee. 

Against this backdrop, my Administration has newly established an Office of the Secretary for the Self-employed inside Cheong Wa Dae and raised the policy for the self-employed to the level of an important part of the nation's economic policy. The Government has worked out mid- to long-term, systematic strategies to grow and innovate self-employed businesses, and last December, it even announced a comprehensive growth and innovation plan for self-employed businesses. 

This comprehensive plan was the first one jointly devised by government officials and representatives of the self-employed, who put their heads together to fine-tune their opinions. In consideration of the special nature of self-employed businesses, the protection of their business lines and social safety nets have been enhanced significantly. The plan also incorporates measures to innovate the policy structure for self-employed businesses, including enacting framework acts for the self-employed and microbusiness owners, establishing a policy research institute to be exclusively focused on self-employed businesses and increasing the market promotion fund for microbusiness owners to 4 trillion won. 

I hope this year becomes the first year when things get better for the self-employed. 

Eighteen trillion-won worth of gift certificates redeemable only through the self-employed or microbusinesses will be issued by 2022. Rules against illegal circulation of the certificates such as selling them for cash at a discount will be strictly enforced in a bid to substantively help local commercial areas and the livelihoods of low-income individuals. 

In addition, neighborhood commercial area renaissance projects will be pushed forward. Business conditions for 30 commercial areas located in old city centers nationwide will be upgraded in order to form multipurpose spaces that feature places marked by regional characteristics, shopping, local cultures, communities and youth startups. I will make sure that self-employed businesses will bounce back in those local commercial areas that can sustain themselves.   

Traditional markets will also be actively revitalized. The amount allocated to support traditional markets in this year’s budget was raised significantly to 537 billion won. Research has shown that allowing street parking near traditional markets increased the number of shoppers by 30 percent and sales by 24 percent. The percentage of traditional markets equipped with parking lots will be raised to a level close to 100 percent. 

The designation of the types of businesses suitable for providing the minimum income needed to sustain microbusiness owners will be implemented in earnest. The Distribution Industry Development Act and other related acts will be amended to safeguard the livelihoods of the self-employed and microbusiness owners. The Earned Income Tax Credit allocated this year was considerably increased to 3.8 trillion won, and 1.15 million households led by the self-employed will benefit from it. A Korean-style unemployment allowance will be introduced to further strengthen the social safety net for the self-employed. I will also ensure that the opinions of the self-employed and microbusiness owners will be fully represented in the process of determining an increase in the minimum wage. 

I was told that this is the first time that the self-employed and microbusiness owners have been invited to Cheong Wa Dae for a dialogue. I am ready to listen carefully and ask for your candid opinions. Whenever possible, related ministers or Cheong Wa Dae officials will provide answers to your questions. 

Thank you.