Civil servant special performance awards total 84 million won (about $61,000); three outstanding achievements recognized, including record-high exports; MZ Avengers Startup Day also held

Noh Yong-seok, first vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups [Ministry of SMEs and Startups]
Noh Yong-seok, first vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups [Ministry of SMEs and Startups]

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Sunday it had presented awards to employees who delivered outstanding policy results and helped address pressing national issues, including through the "Startup for All" project.

The special performance award for civil servants is designed to immediately recognize and reward exceptional achievements that fall outside the scope of regular performance evaluations, with the aim of spreading a results-driven culture across the public sector. This year, the ministry became the first central government agency to introduce a special performance award system in which citizens observe and field practitioners directly select outstanding policies through a policy review session.

In April, the ministry distributed a total of 34 million won in prize money across five outstanding policy achievements, including advances in technology protection through the introduction of a Korean-style discovery system.

The latest round of ad hoc awards was established to immediately identify and recognize employees who responded to urgent national issues or produced high-impact policy results.

The ministry selected candidate projects focusing on three criteria: those that addressed urgent national policy priorities, those whose results could be verified through objective metrics, and those whose achievements had been officially recognized at forums such as Cabinet meetings. Final award recipients were confirmed after an internal merit review within the ministry and deliberation by a joint public-private merit review committee.

The task force that drove the "Startup for All" project — led by startup policy director Jo Gyeong-won — was selected as a recipient. The project drew more than 62,000 participants in roughly 50 days, making it the largest government startup and idea competition on record. The team received a total of 37 million won in recognition of its contribution to building the foundation for a national startup era in which anyone can pursue entrepreneurship.

A task force led by Senior Official Lee Hwa-jeong that responded to the Middle East war received 42 million won for its close on-the-ground support to prevent damage from spreading to small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as its work supporting K-beauty exports.

Bae Seon-uk, an official at the Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province Regional Office of SMEs and Startups, received 5 million won for devising a handcrafted burger festival that broke from the conventional Donghaeng Festival format, creating the country's first new-sales-channel model within the festival and drawing 12,000 visitors while generating 108 million won in sales.

The ministry also plans to present ministerial commendations to employees of affiliated public institutions who contributed to these achievements.

Following the awards ceremony, the ministry held the "2026 MZ Avengers Startup Day." The MZ Avengers is an innovation group within the ministry made up of younger employees who identify and propose ideas for improving organizational culture and advancing policy from the perspective of the younger generation. Members plan to develop policy improvement ideas and propose organizational culture reforms through a range of self-directed activities, including interviews with entrepreneurs and small business owners, field visits and hands-on policy experiences.

The ministry has been working to spread an organizational culture that values performance and innovation throughout the public sector. Moving away from seniority-based or periodic evaluation systems, it is expanding a startup-style approach to operations — one that quickly rewards policy results citizens can feel and incorporates creative ideas into policy. The goal, the ministry said, is to accelerate policy implementation and strengthen on-the-ground responsiveness.

"We will establish a culture of immediately recognizing and rewarding employees who deliver results, while actively supporting young employees like the MZ Avengers so that their fresh perspectives and ideas can translate into policy and organizational innovation," said Noh Yong-seok, first vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. "Just like the startup spirit of finding answers rather than waiting for them, I hope the MZ Avengers will breathe new energy into our organizational culture and policy as a whole."


boo@heraldcorp.com