The South Korean government is considering including more small business owners in its fourth round of COVID-19 relief payments by expanding the definition of small business to include those with five to nine employees.  

According to the government and the ruling Democratic Party(DP) on Monday, they are reviewing the payment standard for small businesses in the service sector and may raise it from less than five workers to less than ten.

Small businesses in the manufacturing, construction and transportation industries with less than ten employees were already eligible in previous rounds of payments.

The considered revision comes as the government is also looking to raise the standard for annual sales from the current maximum of 400 million won to one billion won.

The government and ruling party, meanwhile, have yet to agree on the DP-proposed relief payments for households in the bottom 40-percent income bracket.

The two sides are expected to begin consultations on the relief pay and extra budget plans this week and to announce the final plans around next Tuesday for parliamentary approval.