Minister nominee Lee So-young of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said she plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate the growth potential of small and medium-sized corporations and focus export, finance, and research and development (R&D) support on corporations with strong growth prospects.
According to written answers to personnel hearing questions submitted to the National Assembly on the 14th, Lee said she would measure growth potential by analyzing with AI not only increases in corporations' sales and employment but also diverse indicators such as technology, finance, workforce, and infrastructure. Based on this, the plan is to shift the support system for small and medium-sized corporations to focus on growth and scale-up.
However, she added that it is difficult to apply uniform evaluation criteria to early startups, micro corporations, and small merchants, and said she would take into account each corporation's characteristics so existing support is not reduced.
She also said that for innovative corporations in new growth sectors such as new security, pharmaceuticals and biotech, and Climate Tech, she would bundle commercialization, finance, R&D, and talent and provide long-term support. Among marginal corporations, those with potential for normalization will be selected for support in restructuring, business conversion, and debt adjustment. She also explained that she would build a feedback system that evaluates, with data, the growth-promotion effect, satisfaction, and delivery mechanisms of small and medium-sized corporation support programs across all ministries and reflects the results in the next year's budget.
To prevent technology theft, she indicated a position that nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) should be mandatory from the transaction negotiation stage and that records of providing technical data and escrow systems should be strengthened. In line with the spread of AI, she will also pursue expanding the scope of technology protection to include production, design, training data, and algorithms.
To ease the initial public offering (IPO) bias in the venture investment exit market, she assessed that it is necessary to vitalize M&A and secondary funds and to improve tax and regulatory systems to encourage acquisitions of venture corporations by large and mid-sized corporations. Lee said that while she agrees with the purpose of revamping the KOSDAQ market with a promotion and relegation system that classifies by corporate group, "a uniform classification centered on market capitalization and performance could create hierarchies and stigma among corporations and may fail to reflect the characteristics of AI and deep-tech corporations that require long-term R&D," according to industry concerns.
She showed a reserved stance on introducing a cap on delivery application (app) commission fees. However, she said the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) would participate in discussions on introducing preferential commission rates for micro businesses to represent the position of tenant companies. She added that if the need to further raise the simplified taxation threshold for small merchants is confirmed, she would consult with relevant ministries.
Regarding debt adjustment programs such as the New Leap Fund and the New Start Fund, she emphasized that preferential interest rates and loan limit benefits should be expanded so that diligent repayers are not disadvantaged. She said debt adjustment beneficiaries would be linked to consulting and commercialization support, and early signs of crisis would be detected to guide them to tailored policies.
To ease labor shortages at small and medium-sized corporations, she proposed a pan-government integrated management system that covers everything from the introduction of foreign workers to residence, employment, and settlement. She viewed it necessary to support skill formation for low-skilled workers, long-term residence for outstanding talent, and to ease residency qualification regulations so foreign students can work at small and medium-sized corporations.
On the system of linking supply prices to costs, she answered that while its effects should spread to subcontractors at the second and third tiers and below, a plan to apply it even in cases where small corporations are the contractors needs to be reviewed in stages. The plan is to supplement the system after industry-specific surveys and collecting on-site opinions.
Lee joined the Democratic Party of Korea in Jan. 2020. Before entering politics, she also joined the Democratic Labor Party, the Progressive Party, and the Green Party Korea.