Rice Cake Soup and Tteokbokki Rice Cake Manufacturing Industry Re-Designated as Livelihood Protection Sector for 5 Years

Re-designated for Five Years, Until September 15, 2031
Annual Shipment Quota for Large Companies Raised to 120%

The production of tteokguk-tteok and tteokbokki-tteok (rice cakes for soup and rice cake stir-fry) has been re-designated as a livelihood-friendly business category.

On the 12th, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, a vendor displayed rice cake soup rice cakes at Mangwon Market in Mapo-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On August 7, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that the "Livelihood-Type Compatible Business Review Committee" had convened and decided to re-designate the industry as a livelihood-friendly business category. This designation will be in effect from September 16, 2026 to September 15, 2031.

The Livelihood-Type Compatible Business category is a system established under the 2018 "Special Act on the Designation of Livelihood-Type Compatible Businesses for Micro-business Owners." It restricts the acquisition, commencement, and expansion of business operations by large companies in designated sectors for five years.

The production of tteokguk-tteok and tteokbokki-tteok was first designated as a livelihood-friendly business category in 2021 due to its low entry barriers and the prevalence of small-scale businesses. With the current designation set to expire on September 15, a request for re-designation was submitted by related micro-business groups, leading to the committee’s review.

The committee examined whether micro-business owners operating in the tteokguk-tteok and tteokbokki-tteok industry require protection due to the small scale of their businesses.

They also discussed the impact of the livelihood business designation on protecting micro-businesses, market growth, and how re-designation might affect the industry’s competitiveness and consumer welfare, ultimately resolving to proceed with the re-designation.

The committee decided to continue guaranteeing previously permitted shipment quantities for large companies and others that have reduced output in compliance with the original designation notification.

Considering the growth trend of the tteokguk-tteok and tteokbokki-tteok market, the committee expanded the annual allowable shipment ratio from 110% to 120% of the maximum annual shipments achieved in the past five years.

Additionally, for cases where large companies and similar entities produce for export, act as OEM manufacturers for SMEs, or produce and sell products using domestic rice or wheat, shipment approvals will continue to be granted without restriction as exceptions, consistent with prior rules.

Lee Euncheong, Director General for Win-Win Cooperation Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "We respect the committee’s balanced decision, which took into account both the protective effect for micro-business operators in the tteokguk-tteok and tteokbokki-tteok industry during the previous designation period and market growth trends. We will work to ensure that the new measures are implemented without delay, so that the protection of micro-businesses and win-win cooperation between large and small companies can be realized in practice."

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