Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Takes Action to Resolve Grievances of Small Businesses and Small Merchants in Jeonnam Region

The 1st 'Corporate Ombudsman On-site Meeting' Held

[Muan＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Oh Hwan-joo] A forum was held to listen to the grievances of small businesses and small merchants in the Jeollanam-do region and discuss solutions.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (Chairperson Jeon Hyun-hee, hereinafter referred to as the ACC) announced on the 18th that it held an on-site meeting of the Corporate Ombudsman at the Jeollanam-do Small and Medium Business Job and Economic Promotion Agency in Muan-gun, together with the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business and Small Merchants, and related organizations such as the Small and Medium Business Corporation and the Small Enterprise and Market Service.

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission./Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The Corporate Ombudsman meeting is a forum where companies present their grievances on-site and discuss solutions in collaboration with policy officials.

Issues requiring further discussion are received by the ACC as grievance complaints, which thoroughly investigate whether administrative agency dispositions are unjust or if there are unreasonable regulations.

This year, starting with small businesses and small merchants in the Jeonnam region, the ACC plans to hold monthly visiting Corporate Ombudsman meetings to resolve grievances of companies by region and industry.

Until now, Corporate Ombudsman meetings have been operated in a small-scale consulting format targeting small merchants to overcome COVID-19.

From this year, considering the overall economic downturn crisis, the plan is to create a forum where companies facing various difficulties by region and institutions handling policies such as employment and funding gather in one place to discuss comprehensive solutions.

Also, with the establishment of the Corporate Grievance Investigation Division, a dedicated organization for corporate grievances within the ACC, difficult issues will be addressed with professional investigators attending the site directly to resolve problems.

Last year, due to government policies such as refraining from events and gatherings because of COVID-19, the ACC held three Corporate Ombudsman on-site meetings in the second half of the year to listen to the opinions of small businesses and small merchants such as tax accountants and the academy industry.

A total of 53 grievances were received, and 34 suggestions have been processed so far.

Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the ACC, stated, “We are well aware that the conditions for local companies are very difficult due to the regional economic downturn,” and expressed her determination, saying, “We will do our best to actively listen to the voices from the field of local companies and create prompt solutions.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.