SMEs Ministry Forms ₩5 Trillion Supplementary Budget for Small Business Relief

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has prepared a supplementary budget of 5.0112 trillion won to respond to complex economic crises at home and abroad. This budget, aimed at helping SMEs and small business owners overcome difficulties due to US tariff measures, domestic demand stagnation, and accelerating AI technology competition, will be intensively invested in three key areas. First, **support for responding to trade risks**. For export-oriented SMEs affected by US-imposed tariffs, a 100 billion won 'Emergency Fund for Trade Risk Response' offering interest rates 0.3%p lower than the base rate and special benefits will be temporarily established in 2025. Additionally, 100 billion won for diversifying export markets and entering new markets, and 500 billion won for emergency liquidity supply will be additionally invested. A 4.5 trillion won 'Special Guarantee for Crisis-Stricken Companies' will also be newly established through the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation. An additional 89.8 billion won will be injected into the export voucher program, and 10 billion won into support for overseas standard certification. Second, **support for revitalizing livelihoods**. To alleviate the economic burden on small business owners, 1.57 trillion won will be invested in the 'Small Business Owner Burden Reduction Credit' program, providing a 500,000 won credit to 3.11 million small business owners with annual sales of 300 million won or less. The 'Win-Win Payback' program (1.37 trillion won) to boost sales for traditional markets and small business owners will refund 20% of the increase in card spending as digital Onnuri gift certificates (up to 100,000 won per month). Diverse support measures are also included, such as the establishment of a 'Small Business BizPlus Card' with a limit of 10 million won for small business owners with medium to low credit scores, expansion of small business policy funds by 500 billion won, provision of 2 trillion won in new guarantees by regional credit guarantee foundations, and an additional 49.4 billion won for the 'Hope Return Package' program to support re-establishment. Third, **support for responding to new technologies such as AI**. To enable promising SMEs in the AI sector to gain global competitiveness, the 'Scale-up TIPS' program, a private investment-linked R&D program, will be expanded. This accelerates technological innovation through private pre-investment and government R&D funding. Moreover, to ensure AI technology can be widely applied in SME manufacturing sites, plans include supporting the advancement of smart factories, such as introducing manufacturing robots, establishing process automation, and developing cloud solutions. Oh Young-ju, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated that "this supplementary budget will be of great help in resolving the management difficulties and restoring the vitality of SMEs and small business owners," and promised prompt implementation of support programs immediately upon parliamentary approval.