Woowa Brothers, operator of Baedal Minjok, is moving to expand online sales channels for products from traditional markets in Gangwon.

Woowa Brothers said on Tuesday it signed a public-private cooperation agreement with Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province and the Gangwon Merchants Federation to revitalise traditional markets in the province.

Under the agreement, the three organisations will build a cooperation model to discover foods and products from traditional markets and link them to sales on the Baemin platform. They also plan to jointly develop specialised products using local ingredients.

Woowa Brothers will handle product planning, branding and online sales. Gangwon will select traditional markets to join the project and support the infrastructure needed to make products, such as cooking and packaging facilities.

The Gangwon Merchants Federation will promote the project to market merchants and support communication between small business owners and the partner organisations.

The agreement was signed on Sept. 22 at the Gangwon provincial office. Attendees included Gangwon Governor Sang-ho Woo (우상호), Gangwon Merchants Federation head Eun-jin Cho (조은진) and Seok-jun Yoon (윤석준), head of Woowa Brothers' Brand Communication Strategy Division.

Woo said he hopes the agreement will provide practical help to small business owners in the province. He said he will continue policies that can help small business owners and traditional markets regain vitality.

Yoon said he will connect excellent products from Gangwon's traditional markets with consumers nationwide through the Baemin platform. He stressed that the company will continue to create cooperation cases that expand sales channels for local small business owners.