PAYOUTS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES BEGIN

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The government will start paying today COVID-19 relief funds to small businesses that are forced to close early because of the pandemic. Since the aid is given out based on the odd-even day system, those businesses with their business license numbers ending in odd numbers can apply for aid today.

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Starting Monday, the government will pay COVID-19 aid to small businesses that are forced to close early as part of disease control measures. Small businesses or enterprises eligible for the assistance are those that opened by December 15th and have experienced or are expected to experience reduced sales. Each business stands to receive one million won. The first round of payment begins Monday for some 700,000 small businesses imposed with the restrictions. For prompt damage compensation, these businesses can apply for assistance without documents of proof. Starting 9 a.m., applications for aid opened at a website specifically set up for small business COVID-19 relief assistance. The first two days of application will be operated on the odd-even day system. For today, businesses with their business license numbers ending in odd numbers are allowed to apply for aid while those ending in even numbers can apply tomorrow. This distinction will be removed starting Wednesday. Those eligible for the first round of subsidy will receive a text message from the government. Small businesses that apply for aid after they receive the text message will get paid on the day of application. However, roughly 50,000 businesses that require power of attorney from their co-owners or confirmation from local governments will have to wait for payment until mid-January. Between 1.8 and two million businesses that were not forced to cut their operation hours short, such as travel agencies or lodging businesses, that had received other government aid. Those businesses will start getting paid on February 6th. Other eligible businesses will be able to get paid in order after reduction in sales is verified by obtaining their tax data in mid-January. Detailed assistance criteria and application process can be found at the public notice section of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups homepage. A call center for small business aids is opened to make the application process easier for eligible businesses.