'2026 Mutual-Growth Economy Ecosystem Seoul Declaration' ceremony held

Oh Se-hoon presents vision of 'beyond regulation, toward mutual growth'

Eight franchise brands certified as 'mutual-growth franchises,' with marketing and owner support

'Illegal private lending watchdog' launched to monitor and report ads on SNS and online platforms

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon delivers remarks at the "2026 Mutual-Growth Economy Ecosystem Seoul Declaration" ceremony held at Seoul City Hall on Thursday. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon delivers remarks at the "2026 Mutual-Growth Economy Ecosystem Seoul Declaration" ceremony held at Seoul City Hall on Thursday. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government held the "2026 Mutual-Growth Economy Ecosystem Seoul Declaration" ceremony at the multipurpose hall of Seoul City Hall on Thursday.

The event drew about 500 attendees, including Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, representatives from franchise headquarters, the online shopping industry, consumer groups, an illegal private lending watchdog and other civic economy stakeholders.

A total of 87 institutions and organizations — including franchise headquarters, the Korea Online Shopping Association and consumer groups — are taking part in the initiative. The participants pledged joint action to promote fair trade and consumer protection, while the Seoul Metropolitan Government committed to providing institutional support by identifying and spreading best practices in cooperation.

Franchise headquarters will work toward mutual cooperation with franchisees and the establishment of fair contract practices, while online shopping companies will pursue a safer and more transparent trading environment. Consumer groups will participate in monitoring unfair trade practices and in preventing and remedying consumer harm.

Oh presented the vision of "beyond regulation, toward mutual growth — Seoul, a special city for quality of life built together." Oh went on to say that the role of government in establishing a fair economic order must go hand in hand with the voluntary cooperation and shared commitment of economic actors, including businesses, small merchants and consumers.

The venue featured five themed exhibition spaces covering new forms of consumption, financial harm, everyday transactions, safe and transparent consumption, and protection of vulnerable groups — showcasing consumer damage cases and policy improvement efforts.

The city presented certificates and plaques to eight franchise brands selected as "2026 Seoul-style mutual-growth franchises." The program evaluates franchise headquarters on their compliance with fair trade practices and voluntary cooperation with franchisees, and eight brands were chosen this year as in last year. The certified brands are BHC, Ilpum Yangpyeong Haejangguk, Bobae Banjeom, Ten Percent Coffee, Obok Obongjip, Mungtung, Yangbokjeom and Jingyo-dong Jjimdak. Certified brands receive the right to use an official certification mark and promotional opportunities, while franchisees are connected to management consulting and education services.

The city also recognized eight consumer organizations for their contributions to preventing and remedying consumer harm. The honorees were the Korea Women's Consumer Federation, the Korea Mother's Association Central Federation, the Korea Consumer Federation, the Korea Disabled Consumers Union, Happy Mom, the Korea Senior Welfare Union, Future Consumer Action and the Korea Senior Association.

Working alongside consumer groups, the city conducts damage investigations, on-site inspections and preventive education covering everyday and emerging forms of transactions. This year, eight specialized projects are underway, including a probe into wedding-planning agencies and preventive education on illegal private lending.

The exhibition space at the venue also highlighted these consumer protection efforts, sharing cases involving harm prevention in live-commerce and cross-border e-commerce, investigations into postpartum care centers and wedding-planning agencies, and digital consumer education programs for older adults.

Song Gil-young, author of "Sidaeybeo," a book on social forecasting, delivered a special lecture on the meaning of cooperation and mutual growth in a changing economic environment.

A launch ceremony was also held for an illegal private lending watchdog unit. The group will monitor and report advertisements for illegal private lending found on online portals, SNS platforms and open chat rooms.


ken@heraldcorp.com