The noodle and naengmyeon manufacturing industries have been redesignated as "livelihood-suitable industries." As a result, starting on the 27th, large companies will be restricted from acquiring or expanding businesses in these sectors for the next five years.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 19th that it convened the Livelihood-suitable Industry Deliberation Committee and reviewed and approved the redesignation of the noodle manufacturing and naengmyeon manufacturing industries as livelihood-suitable industries.
The livelihood-suitable industry system aims to protect the survival of small, microbusiness owners under the Special Act on the Designation of Livelihood-suitable Industries for Small Business Owners enacted in 2018. Large companies and others are prohibited from acquiring, starting, or expanding businesses related to livelihood-suitable industries for five years.
The noodle and naengmyeon manufacturing industries have low entry barriers and a high proportion of small, microbusiness owners. The government determined there was a strong need to protect the management stability of small business owners and in 2021 designated the two industries as livelihood-suitable industries for the first time.
In the redesignation review, the committee examined the small scale of the businesses and the need for protection while also discussing industrial competitiveness and consumer impact. As a result, it decided to designate the two industries again as livelihood-suitable industries. The scope of application remains restricted as before. The target is limited to base noodles produced and sold domestically, with noodles including only dried and fresh noodles, and naengmyeon including only dried, fresh, and parboiled noodles.
The committee also decided to exceptionally allow large companies and others to expand businesses when producing export products or home meal replacement (HMR) products. It maintained the existing criteria for allowing increases in shipment volume by large companies and others. Based on the largest annual shipment volume in the past five years, large companies and others may produce and sell up to 110% for direct production and up to 130% for OEM production by small and medium-sized enterprises.
In particular, to expand win-win cooperation between large companies and small business owners, the government decided to allow OEM production and sales supplied by small business owners without quantity limits.