President Moon Jae-in announced a 50 trillion won emergency rescue package to help small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs), small business owners and the self-employed stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moon made the announcement Thursday at the first meeting of a new emergency economic council.

Emergency financial support for small businesses will be expanded to 12 trillion won, and they will be able to take out loans from all financial institutions in the country at an interest rate of around one-point-five percent. 

[Sound bite: President Moon Jae-in (Korean)] 
“To overcome the economic difficulties, we are going to need more measures. We have to devise ways to assist those who have lost income and jobs due to the COVID-19 outbreak. As the central government coffer is limited, we also have to cooperate with local governments. As this is not an ordinary situation, we must go beyond conventional measures. The priority is to prevent the lives of the public from collapsing. I ask you to swiftly come up with effective ways to assist the vulnerable.” 

The aid package comes as SMEs are on the verge of bankruptcy amid a looming global recession and credit crunch.