A signboard at E-Mart in Yangjae-dong, Seocho District in southern Seoul, announces the discount store's closing dates in January and February, Monday. The Seocho District Office revised its ordinance last month to change the compulsory closure date for discount stores and large supermarkets from Sundays to Wednesdays. Yonhap

People will be allowed to shop at discount stores and large supermarkets every Sunday, as the government will scrap regulations forcing them to close on the second and fourth Sundays of every month.

The Office for Government Policy Coordination announced a plan on Monday to amend the Distribution Industry Development Act, aiming to enhance the convenience of weekend shopping. This proposal was unveiled during a town hall meeting session dedicated to announcing the government's deregulation schemes on public livelihoods.

The mandatory closure was introduced to support traditional markets and mom-and-pop stores by enticing customers to shop at these markets at least on two Sundays per month.

"Now that online shopping has become widespread, the government believes it is necessary to adjust the regulations on large supermarkets in a realistic manner," Government Policy Coordination Minister Bang Ki-seon said during the meeting.

As part of the proposed deregulation, the government intends to permit major retailers to designate their closure days on weekdays instead of weekends. Additionally, the current regulations on the timing of online delivery services by these retailers, which were previously prohibited from midnight to 10 a.m., will also be lifted.

Under the act introduced in 2012, discount stores, such as E-Mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus, were obliged to close their stores on the second and fourth Sundays of every month to support traditional markets and small businesses.

But the regulation faced criticism for disrupting people's shopping convenience on holidays without effectively supporting traditional markets.

Some 76 percent of Korean consumers believe the government should ease or abolish the regulations requiring large supermarkets to close on Sundays, according to a survey by the Federation of Korean Industries released, Sunday.

Only 11.5 percent of the respondents said they use traditional markets on Sundays when large supermarkets are closed. As alternative shopping routes, local grocery stores topped the list at 46.1 percent, while 17.1 percent said they visit large supermarkets when they open.

Meanwhile, the government will also scrap a controversial ban on handset subsidies, which currently prohibits mobile carriers from providing excessive discounts or illegal subsidies to customers.

Since 2014, the government curbed subsidies that exceeded legal limits under the Mobile Device Distribution Improvement Act. However, the regulation was criticized for restricting healthy competition among mobile carriers and limit opportunities for customers to buy cell phones at lower prices.

The government will also allow small bookstores to offer greater discounts on their books than the current 15 percent.

The three measures will come to effect after law revisions and approval by the National Assembly.