Overseas Startups Greatly Lower Korea's 'Startup Barriers'

Minister Park Young-sun "Consulting with the Ministry of Justice on Easing Startup Visa Requirements and Shortening Duration"
Activation of K-Startup Grand Challenge

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is set to actively implement system improvements to ease the requirements for issuing startup visas. The plan aims to encourage foreigners with excellent technological capabilities to start businesses in South Korea, thereby contributing to revitalizing the domestic economy and creating jobs.

On the 30th, Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, attended the 'K-Startup Grand Challenge' meeting held at Tipstown in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, and stated, "We plan to fully improve the startup visa system by actively consulting with the Ministry of Justice to ease the issuance requirements and shorten the duration."

This meeting was organized to share the achievements of foreign startups founded in Korea and to listen to on-site voices. Representatives from 18 overseas startups from 15 countries, selected as outstanding teams in last year's K-Startup Grand Challenge, attended.

Currently, the Technology Startup Visa (D-8-4) is issued to those who hold a bachelor's degree or higher, or are recommended by the head of a related central administrative agency, who establish a corporation and meet certain requirements. Points are assigned and evaluated based on various criteria such as receiving investments of 100 million KRW or more from venture capital, the number of intellectual property rights held (registered), and academic background. Those who score 80 points or more out of a total of 448 points are granted the visa. Among these, the category for "persons who have attracted investments of 100 million KRW or more" is worth 80 points.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to support startup teams selected and participating in the K-Startup Grand Challenge Demo Day by allowing them to receive startup visas regardless of the amount of investment if they show the intention to establish a corporation in Korea. Including this, the ministry will consult and collaborate with the Ministry of Justice to address and improve on-site difficulties related to startup visa issuance to help excellent overseas startups settle in Korea.

Minister Park emphasized, "Since global startups are starting in Korea, we will treat them the same as Korean companies and spare no effort to provide all possible support so they can realize their dreams in Korea."

Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups

The K-Startup Grand Challenge is a program launched in 2016 by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency to discover foreign and overseas Korean technology entrepreneurs and encourage them to start businesses in Korea by providing settlement support funds. It has become a festival where over 1,500 startups from more than 100 countries challenge every year.

For example, 'TravelPlan,' which participated in the 2016 K-Startup Grand Challenge, is a startup founded by an overseas Korean. It provides an AI-based personalized travel chatbot service. In September 2017, it established a corporation in Korea, attracting foreign tourists to Korea, and last year contributed to job creation by hiring about 20 Koreans.

Additionally, German startup 'IsItFresh,' which has technology that attaches digital sensors to food to check freshness via the Internet of Things (IoT), and French startup 'Jamshi,' which developed a sleep induction application, have also settled in Korea and are actively conducting business.

Through the K-Startup Grand Challenge, from 2016 to 2019, a total of 197 overseas startups were supported to settle in Korea. This resulted in the establishment of 77 domestic corporations, investment attraction of 87.1 billion KRW, sales of 29 billion KRW, and the creation of 171 new jobs.

Minister Park said, "Now, it is more important where and how you start a business than who starts it. Korea is emerging as a hub in Asia with high-level infrastructure and technological capabilities, becoming a land of opportunity for global startups."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.