The Ministry of SMEs and Startups delivered its view to the National Assembly to increase this year's supplementary budget by adding more than 60 billion won to fund discount coupons that would encourage use of public delivery applications (apps). The aim is to raise usage of public delivery apps to reduce the burden on small business owners, but some warn the measure could end up as a one-off.
Based on ChosunBiz reporting compiled on the 5th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) conveyed to the Trade, Industry, SMEs and Startups Committee the need to add 63.5 billion won to the discount coupon budget for the "smartification support for small business owners–online sales channel support for small business owners" program in this year's supplementary budget.
The program was not included in the government's supplementary budget plan, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) says it prepared the program and proposed a budget increase at the National Assembly's request. During National Assembly deliberations, the budget drafted by the government can be increased with the government's consent. The original program budget was only 300 million won, but the scale has grown.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) is studying ways to invigorate public delivery apps. The plan is to nurture them as the third major platform after Baemin and Coupang Eats to lower costs for small business owners on delivery platforms. To that end, it proposed to the National Assembly designating public delivery apps with strong public interest and marketability and issuing 60 billion won in consumer discount coupons. Thirty-five billion won would be used for promotion.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) also cited a case on Ddangyo, a public delivery app run by Shinhan Bank, where issuing 42 billion won in discount coupons generated a total of 297.9 billion won in sales. It is also exploring ways to link regional currency and Onnuri gift certificates with discount coupons.
While the goal is to ease the burden on small business owners through public delivery apps, some question the policy's staying power. The program was run temporarily last year by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. At the time, 65 billion won was spent to provide discount coupons applicable to general payments across 12 public delivery apps.
This year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) took over the public delivery app program. During last year's 2026 budget review, some lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea also called for 86 billion won in discount coupons.
A National Assembly official said, "I understand that, as with last year, the Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) wrangled to take the program when the budget was being drawn up this year."
The official added, "After the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) took over the program, there was content related to discount coupons during this year's budget review, but it wasn't reflected in the main budget," and said, "in the supplementary budget, they have again requested an increase to the discount coupon budget."
It is uncertain whether discount coupons alone can sustain the boost in consumption. When the Agriculture Ministry ran the program, public delivery apps had only a 4% market share, which rose to 11% in December last year on the back of coupon issuance. But as of February this year, it fell again to 8.8%.
Inha University emeritus professor Lee Eun-hee said, "Many public delivery apps see orders fall without discount coupons." She added, "They can serve as a primer, but it makes no sense to run the program with tax money every year," and said, "it's not the COVID-19 period, so the rationale for supporting public delivery apps is weak; support focused on seniors or households raising children may be reasonable."
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to examine ways to build intrinsic competitiveness in its ongoing study of public delivery apps. A Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) official said, "We plan to review ways to grow, so to speak, organically without government support," and explained, "in addition to general payments, we will explore linking Onnuri gift certificates and regional currency with discount coupons when paying on public delivery apps."