President Lee Jae Myung poses for a photo with Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young after presenting her with an appointment certificate at Cheong Wa Dae on Oct. 19. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung poses for a photo with Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young after presenting her with an appointment certificate at Cheong Wa Dae on Oct. 19. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung publicly cheered on Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young, praising her recent work on the job.

On Saturday, Lee shared one of the minister's posts on X, formerly Twitter, writing: "Dear Minister Lee So-young — you are carrying out your ministerial duties diligently and faithfully. Please send her your support."

The post Lee shared was an account of the minister's two-day field visit to the Gyeongsang region.

Writing about the Ulsan leg of the trip, Lee So-young said the city "has built a solid industrial ecosystem anchored by large-scale manufacturers such as Hyundai Motor Company and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, while also combining the research capabilities of universities, including UNIST." Lee added that Ulsan "can be described as a city with excellent conditions for small and midsize enterprises, venture companies and startups, and university researchers to collaborate and create new technologies and industries together — not just large conglomerates."

An exchange between the president and the minister at a recent Cabinet meeting also drew attention.

At the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, when Lee So-young asked the president to help promote government policy through social media, Lee replied with a laugh: "People are already making a fuss about how much I post on social media."

At that meeting, Lee explained the rationale behind the Korea Grand Festival — a large-scale, government-led autumn discount event — saying the goal was to make people recognize that "for two weeks every autumn, there is a major national discount event," and that South Korea was working to "create a nationally organized discount event with international recognition."

Lee So-young, as the minister overseeing the event, reported that the ministry had developed a unified brand identity and produced promotional videos featuring well-known celebrities to raise awareness. Lee then asked: "If at all possible, it would be great if you could promote it once on social media, Mr. President."

Lee readily agreed, saying "Of course, anytime," before adding with a smile: "People are already making a fuss about how much I post on social media."


sang@heraldcorp.com