Prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook arrives Monday at her confirmation hearing preparation office at the Financial Supervisory Service training center in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]
Prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook arrives Monday at her confirmation hearing preparation office at the Financial Supervisory Service training center in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

First prime minister nominee from SMEs ministry since its elevation to full ministry status in 2017

Previous premiers came from Interior, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Trade ministries — never SMEs

Appointments at affiliated agencies, including Kibo and Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, may be delayed amid confirmation proceedings

The nomination of Ministry of SMEs and Startups Minister Han Sung-sook as prime minister candidate has sent ripples through the ministry. While her selection as a female business executive and former Naver chief carries its own significance, officials inside and outside the ministry say the more meaningful shift is that the SMEs ministry has produced a candidate for the country's second-highest office.

Han arrived Monday at her confirmation hearing preparation office at the Financial Supervisory Service training center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where she told reporters that "the people's livelihoods are in a state of emergency" and pledged to "make every effort toward an economic recovery that citizens can feel."

Han, who served as chief executive of Naver before taking the SMEs and Startups portfolio, is widely regarded as someone who combines hands-on corporate management experience with policy execution. If her nomination clears the National Assembly confirmation hearing and wins approval, she will take office as the inaugural prime minister of the Lee Jae Myung administration.

Her nomination carries particular weight within the ministry. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups was elevated from agency to full ministry status in July 2017, shortly after the Moon Jae-in administration took office. Compared with traditional powerhouse ministries — the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior and Safety and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy — it has a short institutional history. In the official ordering of government ministries, it sits near the bottom, after the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. That is why the ministry has long been known in government circles as the "youngest ministry."

That same ministry has now produced a nominee for prime minister — the position commonly described as second only to the president. Should Han clear the confirmation process, she would become the first prime minister to have served as SMEs and Startups minister. Inside the ministry, the reaction has been that "it is symbolic of small and medium-sized enterprise, venture and small-business policy moving to the center of national governance."

Past prime ministers have frequently come from ministerial backgrounds, but those backgrounds have been concentrated in traditional departments. Former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum served as minister of interior and safety; former Prime Minister Han Seung-soo as foreign affairs minister; former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn as justice minister; and former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun as minister of commerce, industry and energy. No prime minister has ever come from the SMEs ministry, and a direct path from the predecessor Small and Medium Business Administration to the premiership is equally hard to find in the historical record.

The ministry's institutional footprint has also grown considerably since its elevation. It now operates under a two-vice-minister structure, whereas the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy — which once housed the Small and Medium Business Administration — runs on a single vice minister. The SMEs ministry today covers SME policy, venture and startup policy, small-business policy, technology protection, the supply-price linkage system and traditional market policy.

The presidential office attributed Han's selection to ability. When asked at the nomination announcement about the decision to appoint a female prime minister, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said, "The personnel philosophy of our administration is strictly centered on competence and ability," adding, "If you are asking why a woman, that does not seem like an appropriate question for 2026."

By that account, the appointment rests less on Han's identity as a woman or a business figure and more on the policy drive she demonstrated as minister. Since taking office, she championed an "Entrepreneurship for All" initiative to broaden the startup ecosystem and maintained an active presence on the ground in areas including the supply-price linkage system, responses to technology theft, and small-business and traditional market policy. When President Lee Jae Myung publicly applauded her at a "Dialogue with SME Leaders" event in March, asking the audience to give her a round of applause and saying she was "doing well," government insiders read it as a clear signal of presidential confidence.

Expectations within the ministry are running high. "SME and small-business policy has often been pushed to the back of the queue even within economic ministries," one industry official said. "If a prime minister comes from the SMEs ministry, the policy weight in budget and regulatory coordination could be different." Another official noted that "given that the ministry started out as a subordinate agency, the symbolism is not small."

The nomination does, however, create a personnel vacuum risk for the ministry. Once Han enters the confirmation hearing process, her capacity to carry out ministerial duties will inevitably be constrained. The ministry said in a statement issued under the spokesperson's name that all media responses and support related to the nominee would be handled by the Prime Minister's Secretariat.

Appointments at affiliated agencies add another layer of uncertainty. The Korea Technology Finance Corporation has been operating without a permanent chairman since Kim Jong-ho's term ended in November 2024, after two rounds of recruitment collapsed; the agency relaunched a search for a new chairman last month. Appointments at other affiliated bodies — including the Korea Intellectual Property Strategy Agency, Korea Venture Investment, the Korea Startup Agency and the Small Enterprise and Market Service — could also slow depending on when a new minister is named and how quickly the presidential office completes its vetting.

Particularly notable is the situation at the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, whose president Lee Tae-sik has remained in post after his term expired in April with no successor named. The standard process for appointing heads of public institutions involves forming a candidate recommendation committee, opening a public application, conducting document and interview reviews, a ministerial recommendation and presidential office vetting. If the ministry's decision-making chain is disrupted while the minister transitions to the prime minister nomination process, appointment timelines will naturally slip further.

Ministry of Government Legislation National Law Information Center. [Graphic: ChatGPT]
Ministry of Government Legislation National Law Information Center. [Graphic: ChatGPT]

hong@heraldcorp.com