The government will build the Smart Trade Hub, an air logistics center dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises at Incheon Airport, to boost online exports by small and medium-sized enterprises. It plans to reduce the expense and risks involved in the export process by providing dedicated loading space for private logistics companies and simplifying customs procedures.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) on the 14th held a roundtable with online export corporations at the Korea Post international postal logistics center at Incheon Airport and announced measures to boost online exports by small and medium-sized enterprises. The measures are designed to support the expansion of platform-based exports and resolve various challenges in logistics, customs, and intellectual property rights.
First, starting in 2026 the government will introduce a logistics voucher program dedicated to online exports. It will support customized logistics services tailored to the characteristics of corporations. Using Korea Post EMS will also cut fees by 15%–30%. By leveraging dedicated loading space at private logistics companies such as Samsung SDS, it plans to improve delivery speed and efficiency and further enhance logistics cost savings.
The Smart Trade Hub being built at Incheon International Airport will go into full operation at the end of 2026. It can handle more than 24,000 small-volume, multi-item shipments a day. It is expected to become a logistics hub for small and medium-sized enterprises' exports. The government plans to gradually secure dedicated space at major ports such as Busan Port and at overseas hubs in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East to build stable logistics infrastructure.
In customs, the government will push to improve e-commerce–tailored systems, including expanding eligibility for simplified export declarations and easing procedures for bringing returned goods back into the country.
At the same time, the government will establish the K-brand intellectual property protection council and launch, in Nov., an insurance product that guarantees sales proceeds exclusively for online export corporations. The insurance is designed to guarantee corporations some or all of the expected settlement amount when a platform's business deteriorates or goes bankrupt and settlement of sales proceeds is not possible.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will nurture promising domestic platforms to global standards and fully overhaul Gobiz Korea into an integrated online export support platform. This will provide export support functions such as policy, logistics, and buyer matching in a one-stop manner.
In addition, the government will designate K-online export strategic items and provide voucher-type tailored support. It will select and support items with high overseas market potential, including top-performing online and offline products and winners of competitions. Corporations can use vouchers to freely choose services such as platform onboarding, marketing, certification, and logistics.
A K-innovation mission program will also be launched to accelerate the overseas expansion of strategic items. The program, which will send specialized sellers and buyers by item overseas or invite them to Korea to support on-site consultations, will go into full operation starting next year.
The government will also run the One-click package for first offline exports to help online corporations move into offline channels, and the online export productization program to support converting offline products to online.
Minister Han Seong-sook said, "We will push these measures quickly so they can be felt in the field, and we will also further review ways for Korea to become a powerhouse in online exports."