The National Assembly's Industry, Trade, and Small and Medium Enterprises Committee conducted an audit of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, focusing on the loan review and post-management practices of the Small Business Market Promotion Agency and the financial soundness of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency.
On October 15, the Small Business Market Promotion Agency announced that it is discussing plans to further reduce interest rates on emergency management stabilization funds for Homeplus suppliers.
Rep. Jo Ji-yeon of the ruling People Power Party urged the agency to enhance support, citing that a fixed interest rate of 2.5% was applied during the 2024 TMON and WEMAKEPRICE crisis.
Although the Ministry of SMEs and Startups lowered the interest rates for the Small Business Market Promotion Agency from 3.85% to 3.35% and for the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency from 3.78% to 3.28% in July, recent increases in deposit rates have led to a rise in rates again this month. As of the end of last month, direct loans to Homeplus suppliers amounted to 12.5 billion won (25% execution rate) from the Small Business Market Promotion Agency and 13.1 billion won (33% execution rate) from the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency.
Earlier, Minister Lee So-young expressed on October 7 that the ministry is actively considering lowering the interest rates on policy funds for Homeplus suppliers to the levels seen during the TMON crisis.
In Tae-yeon, the head of the Small Business Market Promotion Agency, stated, "I agree that we need to lower the rates," adding that discussions on the reduction are ongoing.
Additionally, Rep. Heo Seong-moo of the Democratic Party pointed out that there have been 2,910 cases of businesses that closed within a month after receiving policy fund loans, totaling 60.9 billion won, with a recovery rate of only 8.5%. In response, In stated, "We will introduce an AI-based specialized evaluation system for small businesses and strengthen on-site verification."
Rep. Cha Kyu-geun of the Justice Innovation Party highlighted that the outstanding balance of policy fund loans for companies with complete capital erosion increased by 107.3% from 415.1 billion won in 2021 to 860.6 billion won as of August this year, while the overall balance increased by 8.7% during the same period. In response, Kang Seok-jin, head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, stated, "We will expedite the announcement of policy fund applications and expand our branches."
Rep. Choi Soo-jin of the People Power Party raised concerns about the management of the fund of funds, noting that a key personnel from an asset management company selected for the fund in 2021 left the company six months later, yet this was not reported to Korea Venture Investment for four and a half years.
Lee Dae-hee, CEO of Hanbentoo, acknowledged, "We have notified the management company of a reduction in management fees," and admitted that while there are operational management guidelines, the criteria for sanctions do not adequately reflect the behavior of the management companies. He added that efforts are underway to refine and strengthen these criteria.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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