Ministry, SME federation and insurer team up to cut environmental liability insurance costs for small businesses

South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy said Wednesday it will sign a three-way MOU with the Korea Federation of SMEs and DB Insurance on Thursday at the federation's office in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, to launch a project supporting small and medium-sized enterprises with environmental liability insurance premiums.

Under the agreement, the ministry will develop measures to ease the burden of environmental liability insurance premiums on small businesses and strengthen their capacity to respond to environmental accidents.

DB Insurance, as the lead insurer for environmental liability coverage, will contribute 500 million won ($365,000), while the Korea Federation of SMEs will recruit and select eligible recipients, focusing on small businesses most in need of support.

Selected companies will receive subsidies covering up to 50 percent of their environmental liability insurance premiums. However, the premium support is a temporary measure intended to ease the financial burden on small businesses.

The ministry and the federation said they plan to continue working with the lead environmental liability insurer to raise environmental and safety standards among small and medium-sized enterprises.

Jo Hyeon-su, director general of the ministry's Environmental Health Bureau, said the agreement represents a collaboration between the government and the private sector to help small businesses prepare for environmental accidents. "Starting next year, we plan to build a more sustained support framework through workplace risk assessments and facility inspection and improvement projects," Jo said.