The Korean Women Entrepreneurs Association said on the 24th that it held the "2025 integrated workshop for fostering future women entrepreneurs" on the 21st at the ICC Hotel in Daejeon, with more than 700 female students and women CEOs attending.
The workshop was prepared to share the annual outcomes of the program to foster future women entrepreneurs and to strengthen networking between women CEOs and participating students.
The program to foster future women entrepreneurs is a program in which women CEOs participate as mentors to help female students grow into future women entrepreneurs. It is hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and organized by the association.
This year, for 1,200 female high school and college students from 30 schools nationwide, various programs were run, including ▲ special lectures by women CEOs ▲ on-site visits to women corporations ▲ global business field trips ▲ practical startup mentoring ▲ prior art searches and IP coaching.
In particular, the "prior art search and IP coaching," introduced for the first time this year, reviewed in advance the originality of students' startup ideas and their patentability, and supported them in concretizing technology and design through expert guidance. As a result, a total of 32 intellectual property applications are underway, including 11 patents, 19 trademarks, and 2 copyrights, achieving results that led to the consolidation of students' ideas into the actual rights acquisition stage.
The workshop began with opening remarks by Park Chang-suk, head of the association, and proceeded in the following order: ▲ sharing of program outcomes ▲ student reflections by program ▲ special lecture by a woman leader ▲ Challenge! Startup Golden Bell ▲ awards for outstanding students in practical startup mentoring and scholarships ▲ networking between women CEOs and students.
In the "woman leader special lecture," Seo Ji-an, head of Korea Information & Communications Co. (KICC), shared experiences in operating IT communication services and turning a profit within one year of founding. Seo emphasized the importance of uninterrupted challenges amid diverse experiences before and after starting the business.
In the "outstanding student award for practical startup mentoring," 13 out of a total of 713 participants won honors after consumer response surveys and expert evaluations. The grand prize went to Jang Su-yeon, a fourth-year nursing student at Busan Women's University, who received high marks for proposing "CareTimePlus," a wearable device in the form of a smartwatch that provides real-time support for nurses' work by leveraging her major.
Park Chang-suk said, "The challenges and achievements the students showed this year are not just numbers but the first step toward a new future, and I believe the potential of each and every female student is the foundation stone that opens the future of Korea's economy," adding, "We will continue to actively support our juniors so they can grow into 'women entrepreneurs' who design their own corporations, going beyond the boundaries of starting a business and getting a job."