Jeonju-si, Jeonbuk, has decided to carry out a Jeonju-type good prepayment campaign, which means that it will hold the hands of small businessmen and self-employed people who have been driven to the edge of the precipice of Corona 19, which has continued for more than a year.
The intention is to revitalize the alley commercial area, which has been contracted by the spread of Corona 19 and social distancing, by making payments in advance at neighborhood supermarkets and regular stores that each citizen usually visits. Furthermore, the Jeonju-type Good Prepayment Movement also has the advantage that participating citizens can receive more benefits than general consumption. In short, Jeonju-hyung’s Good Prepayment Movement is the crystallization of social solidarity and partnership in Jeonju, reaching out for neighbors in crisis.
△ Good prepayment campaign to save self-employed people at the edge of the cliff
In the aftermath of Corona 19, which continued for more than a year, self-employed people were in crisis as customers stopped visiting. Due to the prevention of the spread of Corona 19, social distancing continues, but it is because they cannot afford the fixed monthly rent and labor costs of stores regardless of whether they are open or not. For this reason, there are many self-employed people who have already closed their doors or are considering closing their business. When self-employed people face difficulties due to shrinking consumption, the aftermath spreads to small business owners and SMEs.
In fact, according to the’December 2020 and Annual Employment Trends’ recently released by the National Statistical Office, the number of domestic self-employed without employees increased by 75,000. On the other hand, the number of self-employed and unpaid family workers with employees decreased by 138,000 and 50,000, respectively. This means that the number of self-employed people who are difficult to endure day by day in the aftermath of Corona 19 has reduced the number of employees. By industry, the number of employees in the lodging and restaurant business and wholesale and retail business, respectively, decreased 313,000 and 197,000 compared to a year ago, indicating that self-employed people were driven to the edge of the cliff due to the economic aftermath of Corona 19. In the Jeonbuk region, the number of self-employed people is statistically similar to that of a year ago, but the number of vacant stores is steadily increasing, and there are only a few self-employed people who are suffering from a lack of livelihood and business closure.
In order to help self-employed people, Jeonju pays first and then pulls out a good prepayment campaign card, Jeonju-hyung, a good consumption movement that they consume later. If Jeonju City, public institutions, related organizations, private companies, organizations, and general citizens participate in the prepayment campaign with the strength of social solidarity, it is expected that self-employed people will be able to overcome the immediate crisis.
The city plans to spread the Jeonju-type Good Prepayment Movement to the financial sector, companies, organizations, and general citizens on a large scale, starting with the first phase of the day, in which 5,000 people including public officials and affiliated employees participate. For example, if 50,000 people participate in the Jeonju-type Good Prepayment Campaign and pay 100,000 to 300,000 won per person, a minimum of 5 billion won to a maximum of 15 billion won will be released on the market.
The Jeonju Love Gift Certificate, a local currency, has also been temporarily increased to 1 million won until the end of February in order to encourage citizens to participate in the Jeonju-type good prepayment campaign and to promote local consumption. In addition, in addition to the existing 10% cashback, up to 10% of the charging incentive (consumption promotion subsidy) has been added to allow additional benefits of up to 20%. If 50,000 citizens who participated in the Good Prepayment Campaign spend 1 million won for two months using the Jeonju Love Gift Certificate, more than 100 billion won will be circulated in the Jeonju area.
It is expected that citizens will be able to consume more with less money, and self-employed people will have the opportunity to overcome the crisis right now. Furthermore, the city predicts that as the Jeonju-type good prepayment movement spreads and the use of Jeonju Love Gift Certificates increases, consumption in the region becomes more active, and the regional virtuous cycle economic structure will also be strengthened.
△ Joo-hyung Jeon’s social solidarity, the support of the driven neighbors
This is not the first time that Jeonju has announced that it will overcome the Corona 19 crisis with the strength of its solidarity. In order to bring about the lives of citizens who have already collapsed due to Corona 19 last year, various win-win experiments have been conducted such as △good rental movement △Jeonju-type disaster basic income payment △city without dismissal. These experiences gathered together and once again became the basis for reaching out to self-employed people in need through the Jeonju-hyung Good Prepayment Movement.
First, the Good Leasing Movement began when 14 owners of Jeonju Hanok Village decided to lower their rent by more than 10% in order to alleviate the pain of self-employed people suffering from a decrease in travelers due to Corona 19. Since then, the Good Leasing Movement has spread across the country amid rave reviews by President Moon Jae-in and the politicians, and building owners have been created to cut rent for neighbors who are in trouble because they cannot pay the rent right away.
Following the Good Leasing Movement, the city provided the nation’s first Jeonju-type disaster basic income to citizens suffering from economic crises due to the contraction of the economy and industry, losing jobs or decreasing income. Jeonju-type disaster basic income paid to households in crisis is a social solidarity that securely holds citizens in crisis so that their lives almost collapsed due to economic difficulties do not let go of their hopes, and when someone is difficult and difficult,’we are with you by your side’. It became a social promise.
Furthermore, the city also led a win-win declaration, a’city without dismissal’, in which labor, management, citizens, and government work together to protect local jobs together with the aim of saving even one more person from the employment cliff expected by Corona 19. The’City without Dismissal’ Declaration of Win-Win is the key to creating an environment in which corporate workers with relatively poor employment conditions do not have to worry about being fired when a serious economic crisis comes, and that even if they are inevitably fired, they will help them get a job again. . Fiscal and administrative incentives are also given to companies that have kept their jobs by participating in the win-win declaration.
As such, Jeonju City was able to serve as a strong support for neighbors driven by strong social solidarity and community spirit amid the crisis of Corona 19, because the power of social solidarity accumulated so far was revealed. In addition, it was evaluated as impossible without the will and social promise to overcome difficulties through sharing pains, as well as the community fostering project that has been promoted since 2014 to lay the foundation of the community and build solid social solidarity to become the’most humane city’. Are receiving.
“Social disasters such as Corona 19 cause economic pain and anxiety about the future for many people, but there is a limit to overcoming them with individual strength,” said Seung-soo Kim, “with the spirit of the community and the power of strong social solidarity, all members of society We will work hard to overcome this unprecedented crisis by sharing our pain and gathering wisdom.”