Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young stated today (the 7th) regarding the delivery unit price linking system, which is in its third year since introduction, "I believe it still lacks effectiveness, and we will conduct an overall review of the system."

Minister Lee made the remark during the parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee in response to a question from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Song Jae-bong regarding the effectiveness of the system, saying, "Because actual sanctions are somewhat weak, there are cases where it does not function properly in reality."

The delivery unit price linking system is a system that adjusts delivery prices in response to fluctuations in raw material prices pursuant to the Act on the Promotion of Collaborative Cooperation between Large and Small Enterprises (Partnership for Growth Act), and went into full effect in October 2023.

Minister Lee said, "We will conduct a comprehensive review of the delivery unit price linking system, including institutional improvements to the trigger requirements, as well as automatic application systems in sanctions and contracts." She added, "While Japan's related system is advisory rather than legally binding, we will benchmark aspects that we can adopt, such as the government publishing price indices."

However, regarding consultations with the Ministry of Economy and Finance concerning system improvements, Minister Lee explained, "It is true that we have made proposals and requests to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, but it seems there has been no concrete progress yet."

(Photo: Yonhap News)