Prime Minister Han Seong-sook holds a press conference Thursday at Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to announce plans to relocate administrative and public institutions and reform public institution functions. [Yonhap]
Prime Minister Han Seong-sook holds a press conference Thursday at Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to announce plans to relocate administrative and public institutions and reform public institution functions. [Yonhap]

Public home-shopping channel, SME distributor to merge into new marketing agency

Facility-management subsidiaries of Kibo, Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, distributor also to consolidate

SME research institute to move under Office for Government Policy Coordination

South Korea's public home-shopping channel and the Korea SMEs and Startups Distribution Agency will be merged into a single institution. Three facility-management subsidiaries operated separately by Korea Technology Finance Corporation, the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and the distribution agency will also be consolidated into one entity. The Korea SME and Venture Business Research Institute will leave the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and move under the Economic, Humanities and Social Research Council, which falls under the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

Under a public institution reform plan the government announced Thursday, 12 institutions, designated-reserve bodies and subsidiaries under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups are slated for merger, transfer or removal from the public institution designation list. The restructuring will reduce the number of SMEs ministry-affiliated bodies subject to government oversight by eight.

The largest reorganization involves merging the public home-shopping channel, which has a staff ceiling of 379, with the distribution agency, which has a ceiling of 295, to create a tentatively named Korea SME Marketing Promotion Corporation. The combined staff ceiling of the two institutions would be 674.

Restructuring plan for institutions under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups [Source: Prime Minister's Office]
Restructuring plan for institutions under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups [Source: Prime Minister's Office]

The plan combines the distribution agency's policy function of supporting market access for small and medium-sized enterprises with the home-shopping channel's TV and online sales operations under one roof. The government envisions a retail platform where a single institution handles SME product discovery, consulting, onboarding, sales and performance management.

Facility-management operations across SMEs ministry bodies will also be centralized. Kibo Mate, a subsidiary of Korea Technology Finance Corporation; Jungjingong Partners, a subsidiary of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency; and Hanyuwon Partners, a subsidiary of the distribution agency, will be horizontally merged into a tentatively named Korea SME and Venture Management Corporation.

The three companies have a combined staff ceiling of 387 — 80 at Kibo Mate, 205 at Jungjingong Partners and 102 at Hanyuwon Partners. The merged entity will handle facility management, disaster prevention, electrical and mechanical equipment, and cleaning and sanitation services currently scattered across the three parent institutions. The government plans to establish a dedicated safety management unit and a standardized inspection framework within the new company.

The Korea Business Incubation Association, with a staff ceiling of 19, will be merged into the Korea Startup Promotion Agency, which has a ceiling of 241. The government proposed keeping the Korea Startup Promotion Agency name after the merger. The restructuring would bring the association's business incubation center support and management functions together with the agency's startup support programs under one institution.

The Korea SME Certification Institute, the Korea Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation Association and the Women Entrepreneurs Support Center have been placed on the list for removal from the public institution designation. The government plans to adjust factors — such as government subsidies and governance structures — that qualify them as public institutions, effectively taking them off the oversight list. The three organizations have staff ceilings of 19, 15 and 37, respectively.

The Disabled Entrepreneurs Support Center, a miscellaneous public institution under the SMEs ministry, will be transferred to the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The move is designed to integrate the center's startup incubation and market-access support functions for entrepreneurs with disabilities — currently handled by a staff of 49 — into the existing disability employment and vocational support framework. The Korea SME and Venture Business Research Institute, with a staff ceiling of 118, will be transferred to the Economic, Humanities and Social Research Council under the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

The overhaul is part of the government's "Public Institution DIET 2026" initiative. The government plans to reduce the total number of public institutions, subsidiaries and designated-reserve bodies by 109 — 15 through strategic structural reform, 11 by consolidating overlapping functions and 83 by merging subsidiaries and small-scale institutions.

Before any mergers take effect, each institution must draw up a roadmap, and the process requires approval by the Public Institution Management Committee, legislative amendments and consultations with labor unions. The government said it will guarantee employment continuity for all staff — excluding executives — at institutions subject to consolidation, and will operate compensation structures to ensure workers are not paid less than before the mergers.


hong@heraldcorp.com