Youth startup academy faces full budget cut in next year's spending plan
Existing facilities to be converted for restart school; move-in application rate at 8%
Lee: 'Losing senior-junior networks would be a greater social loss'
Lee So-young, nominee for minister of SMEs and Startups, said the government's youth startup academy program should be kept alive in some form, warning that shutting it down entirely could cost society more than the budget savings it would generate.
Speaking at her confirmation hearing before the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee on Tuesday, Lee responded to a question from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jang Cheol-min about cuts to the program. "The government has announced a policy shift in which the entire budget for the Youth Startup Academy has been eliminated from next year's spending plan, and the existing facilities will be repurposed as a restart school," she said.
She added that losing the academy's organic networks — where entrepreneurs support and lift one another across generations — would represent a greater social loss than eliminating the 100 billion won ($74.3 million) budget itself.
Lee said a low move-in application rate appeared to be behind the government's decision to restructure the program. "When I looked into the background of the policy change, I confirmed it was because the application rate for the facilities had fallen to around 8 percent," she said.
She went on to say that even if the physical space were shared with a restart school, it would be better to preserve at least a thread of continuity so the network could be sustained.
The Youth Startup Academy is a Ministry of SMEs and Startups program that selects young entrepreneurs and provides them with startup funding, education and workspace. The government is moving to restructure the program in next year's budget process and redirect the existing facilities toward support for entrepreneurs attempting a fresh start after a previous failure.
hong@heraldcorp.com
