Small business groups strongly protested the government and ruling party's push to allow early-morning deliveries by big-box stores and urged the withdrawal of the bill.
Small business organizations including the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME), the National Association of Merchants, and the Korea Supermarket Cooperative Federation held a press conference on the 10th near the local office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Dong-a, who sponsored the bill to allow early-morning deliveries by big-box stores as the lead author, and demanded the bill be withdrawn.
The groups said, "Allowing early-morning deliveries by big-box stores is a death sentence for neighborhood commerce and a declaration of war on small business," voicing strong opposition. The organizations urged the government and the National Assembly to immediately withdraw the bill.
Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) President Song Chi-young cited global economic instability, including rising international oil prices and a surge in exchange rates, to highlight the difficulties facing small businesses. Song said, "At a time when small businesses are facing a severe management crisis due to rising raw material costs and fuel prices, the government and the ruling party's attempt to allow early-morning deliveries by big-box stores in the name of 'consumer convenience' weakens the minimum safety net of the Distribution Industry Development Act, which has protected neighborhood commerce."
Song went on to stress that restrictions on big-box store operating hours and mandatory closure days were upheld as constitutional by the Constitutional Court in 2018. Song emphasized, "With offline commercial districts already under heavy pressure due to the rapid growth of online platforms, allowing early-morning deliveries by large corporations with capital power and logistics networks is not fair competition but an indiscriminate massacre of small businesses."
National Association of Merchants President Lee Chung-hwan, in a resolution, demanded: ▲ immediate withdrawal of the policy to allow early-morning deliveries by big-box stores ▲ substantial strengthening of the Distribution Industry Development Act, including food ingredient marts ▲ creation of support policies to help small businesses secure self-sufficiency.
Small business groups said they would "respond without yielding an inch," adding, "The government should prioritize the survival of small businesses, the foundation of the livelihood economy, over the logic of keeping online platforms in check."