Lee So-young takes office as Minister of SMEs and Startups

Pledges to make small businesses central players in AI transition

Vows to track and ease financial burdens on small business owners

Says she will run the ministry 'like a startup inside government'

Lee So-young, the new Minister of SMEs and Startups [Yonhap]
Lee So-young, the new Minister of SMEs and Startups [Yonhap]

Lee So-young, the newly appointed Minister of SMEs and Startups, said Monday she would become a "minister of regulatory reform" who stands on the side of the field and innovation.

Speaking at her inauguration ceremony at Government Complex Sejong, Lee said removing unreasonable regulations that stifle business growth was essential for South Korea's genuine economic advancement.

Lee also outlined plans to help small and medium-sized enterprises become active participants in the AI transition, and to systematically manage the financial burdens facing small business owners — including rent, labor costs, interest payments and platform fees.

She made clear her intention to push hard on regulatory reform. "New attempts must not be blocked by regulatory walls before they even get started," she said.

Lee identified polarization as the most pressing challenge facing the South Korean economy. "The gap between large corporations and SMEs, between the Greater Seoul area and the regions, and between giant platforms and neighborhood businesses is widening," she said.

She said the rapid AI transition could either widen or narrow that divide. "If SMEs and small business owners become agents of change, the AI transition will be a new opportunity for a leap forward," she said.

Lee said she would not confine the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to its traditional policy domain. "Addressing polarization is the ministry's job," she said. "Whether it is finance, labor, retail or platforms — if it affects the lives of our SMEs and small business owners, the ministry must be the first to raise the issue and provide answers."

She outlined three priorities for her tenure: ensuring SMEs participate in growth, advancing regulatory reform and activating venture capital, and easing the financial burden on small business owners.

On the first priority, Lee said the benefits of large-scale investment and national strategic industries must flow down to SMEs. "SMEs must be included as full participants from the design stage of national strategic industries and major projects, so that the fruits of national investment and innovation do not stay with large corporations alone but flow through the entire industrial ecosystem," she said. She added that the ministry would also support SMEs in their AI transition and efforts to achieve carbon neutrality.

Lee also addressed the need to activate venture capital for startups. "We must build an ecosystem where anyone with technology and ideas can receive investment, grow, and be properly valued by the market," she said, adding that the ministry would actively weigh in on capital market policy.

On small business policy, she said the ministry would shift from one-off support measures to a systematic approach to managing financial burdens. "There are clear limits to one-off support alone," she said. "We will systematize a range of policies aimed at easing the burden on business operators."

Lee also proposed turning the ministry itself into a "startup inside government." She said she would hold direct discussions with staff regardless of rank and cut unnecessary reporting and formalities. "I will focus on which idea is better, not on who said it," she said. "If there is a better answer, I will gladly change my own thinking."

"The next 10 years must be a time when SMEs, venture companies and startups, and small business owners stand as proud pillars of our economy," Lee said. "I will ask a lot, listen a lot, and debate a lot — and I will take responsibility from the very front."


boo@heraldcorp.com