Lee So

▲ Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young delivers an opening remark at the 10th plenary session of the regular National Assembly held at the National Assembly on October 1.

Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young stated today (October 7), "We will strengthen the social safety net for small business owners by expanding support for employment insurance premiums for self-employed individuals and introducing new support for industrial accident insurance and health care."

In her opening remarks at the parliamentary audit by the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee of the National Assembly, Minister Lee said, "We will introduce policy insurance to cover the risks of suspension and closure of businesses for young startup entrepreneurs, and support domestic demand revitalization and the spread of warmth in people's livelihoods through the 'Korea Grand Festival' in the second half of the year."

She promised, "We will promote economic vitality through the activation of startups and venture investments," adding, "We will newly establish a 'Startup and Venture Regulation Innovation Committee' to discover areas for improvement and find solutions from the perspectives of businesses and the public."

She further explained, "We will create a stable venture investment environment by mobilizing private capital centered on the Fund of Funds and pursuing the extension of the fund's lifespan."

In addition, to strengthen the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), she emphasized that SMEs will be allowed to participate as key players from the design stage of national strategic industries and large-scale projects.

She explained that innovative companies in new growth sectors such as new security, pharmaceutical bio, and climate tech will be provided with long-term, packaged, and intensive support to nurture them into global innovative companies.

Minister Lee said, "While supporting the overseas expansion of SME products such as beauty, food, and fashion based on K-culture, we will establish export roadmaps according to the growth stages of companies to induce rapid export growth," and added, "We will back SMEs from diagnosis to facility conversion and commercialization so that they do not fall behind changes such as artificial intelligence (AI) transformation and responses to carbon neutrality."

She also stated, "To foster a corporate environment of fairness and mutual growth, we will expand effective sanction measures, such as strengthening administrative penalties for technology theft and introducing large-scale fines," and added, "The government will play a leading role in expanding the scope of win-win cooperation beyond traditional manufacturing to the broader industrial sector."

※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.