The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 8th that it carried out special ad hoc performance awards for employees who contributed to solving national issues and producing strong policy outcomes, and held the "2026 MZ Avengers Startup Day."
The special performance award is a system designed to identify and reward outstanding results that are hard to compensate in a timely manner under the existing evaluation framework. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) selected awardees for urgent state agenda items and policies with proven objective outcomes through official verification and a joint public-private review.
The Everyone's Startup TF, which led the "Everyone's Startup Project," drew participation from about 62,000 people in roughly 50 days after launch and received a total of 37 million won in prize money. The more than 60,000 participants mark the largest scale among government startup and idea contest programs.
The Middle East war response TF was recognized for setting up a damage report window immediately after the crisis and linking emergency management stabilization funds and export vouchers to help small and midsize businesses respond to losses. It received a total of 42 million won in prize money for achievements including boosting online exports and supporting domestic cosmetics exports, leading to $29.8 billion in small and midsize business exports in the first quarter this year (up 9.1% from a year earlier), $300 million in online exports, and $8.32 billion in cosmetics exports last year.
Bae Seon-uk, Assistant Deputy Director at the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Regional Office of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, planned a craft burger festival and introduced a new sales exhibition model for the companion festival. The event drew 12,000 visitors and recorded 1.08 billion won in sales. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) awarded Bae 5 million won in prize money.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) also plans to pursue Minister's commendations for employees of affiliated public institutions. The "2026 MZ Avengers Startup Day" held that day brought together staff from policy-executing agencies including the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), the Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development (KISED), the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), the Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC), the Korea Small Enterprise and Market Service, and the Korea Venture Investment Corporation.
Composed of 35 members, the MZ Avengers will operate in five teams—startup, sales channels, regions and technology, second-chance entrepreneurship, and fairness and coexistence—to identify ideas for policy improvements and organizational culture innovation. Outstanding proposals will be linked to pilot projects and system improvements.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to spread an organizational culture in which employees who deliver results are rewarded and members voluntarily participate in innovation.
No Yong-seok, first vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "We will both establish a culture that immediately recognizes and rewards employees who deliver results and support young employees so that their fresh perspectives and ideas can lead to policy and organizational innovation," adding, "Like the startup spirit of finding answers firsthand rather than waiting for the right one, we hope the MZ Avengers will inject vitality across organizational culture and policy overall."