Dong-A reporter pledges more sympathy for small biz owners

The Dong-A Ilbo has interviewed and interacted with dozens of entrepreneurs who own Internet cafés, rice cake mills and public saunas. Most of the conversations with them, however, merely comprised talk such as “How much are these?” and “Thank you,” but not serious discussions of the difficulties they face.

Dong-A and the Ombudsman Office for Small and Medium Businesses have vividly reported on the immediate and hidden problems afflicting small business owners and merchants since Jan. 6. As a result, the daily was awarded a prize from the Korea Federation of Retail Organizations. But the Dong-A reporter at the awards ceremony said he felt ashamed over the belated recognition and negligence of small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Reflecting on the past, the reporter would merely overlook complaints from small businesses after skimming through statements issued by retail organization. When they held protest rallies and collective strikes, he would pay a bit more attention.

Small business owners would tell the reporter to help protect their industries or get them subsidies. Few of them gave rational explanations on why laws and regulations should be revised to help them. For this reason, they sounded like they were making irresponsible demands or simply trying to earn more profits.

A ranking member of an organization for small and medium businesses told the Dong-A reporter recently, “When you want to resolve the problems of smaller and medium businesses, you need affection for them.”

The reporter thus pledged renewed commitment to view smaller business owners and the self-employed with affection and sympathy and help them resolve their immediate problems.