보건복지부 영문홈페이지

“Market-Oriented Business Infrastructure Building Program”

Set to Help Daily Lives of Senior Citizens at Home

- Two business groups will be selected to receive up to KRW 250 million each -

- Under the program, sizeable market-oriented businesses will be created

for the senior citizens, and elderly single-person households will receive

assistance in their daily lives -

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Cho, Kyoohong) announced that it will launch a “Market-Oriented Business Infrastructure Buildingc Program” (hereinafter “program”) to promote senior employment initiatives within local governments.

The program is one of the government initiatives to create jobs for the elderly and assist their social participation. Under the program, senior citizens will jointly run small businesses including cafes and food preparation and retail.

The goals of the program include ① creating sizeable market-oriented business groups that can generate incomes for participating senior citizens and ② providing the vulnerable group including elderly single-person households with public assistance in their daily activities such as meal preparation and laundry chores. The selected business groups will complete building business infrastructure by the end of the year and start operating their business in 2024.

For the program, two business groups will be selected from public competitions organized by municipalities. Eligible businesses include ① “food preparation and retail merchants”, such as preparing, selling, and delivering lunchboxes and side dishes, ② “store merchants” providing laundry services including clothes and beddings, and ③ a “combination” of the two business types.

Each of the selected business groups will receive a budget of up to KRW 250 million for building business infrastructure, and assistance with business consulting from the early stage of the business operation as well as personnel who will help operate the business. The government plans to expand the program in the second half of 2024, based on the results of the performance review that will be conducted in the first half of 2024

Yeom Min Seob, Director General of the Bureau of Senior Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, “The program will be an important policy initiative to create a virtuous cycle of job creation for senior citizens and improved social welfare by generating higher incomes for participating senior citizens in the program and supporting daily lives of those in vulnerable group, including the elderly single-person households.” ///