Assembly member Park calls for stronger support for social economy firms

Small business owners · platform workers urged for expanded social insurance support

Park Jeong-seon, vice chairwoman of the Jobs and Economy Committee of the South Jeolla-Gwangju Special Metropolitan Assembly and a Democratic Party proportional representative, on Thursday called for more substantive support for social economy enterprises and a stronger social safety net for small business owners and platform workers.

At a session where she received work reports from the labor and employment policy office and the economic affairs division, Park questioned whether clustering cooperatives and social enterprises in a proposed "social enterprise innovation town" would offer any real benefit to the businesses. "Would direct support not be more effective?" she asked.

Park also said the survival rate of social economy enterprises stands at below 10 percent. "The best approach would be to help them cut initial costs for space and investment so they can eventually become independent," she said.

Ahn Gyu-pil, head of the social economy team, said the sector remains in an early stage of growth with limited capacity for quantitative expansion. He added that the innovation town is intended to foster growth by encouraging active communication among firms, building shared equipment, supporting production and opening new sales channels.

Oh Yeong-geol, director of the economic entrepreneurship bureau, said the city covers 20 percent of employment insurance premiums for sole proprietors and businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Combined with central government support, eligible business owners can enroll in employment insurance at little or no personal cost, he said.

In her closing remarks, Park urged officials to keep working to expand social insurance premium support in order to strengthen the social safety net for self-employed workers and platform workers.

Before entering politics, Park served as chairwoman of the South Jeolla Province Small Business Owners Association and as vice chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Korea's national small business committee.