All Eyes on Minister Park Young-sun

Skinship with SMEs and Small Business Owners Despite COVID-19
Will Park Minister Run for Seoul Mayor? External Attention Focused on Him

Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, encouraging officials at an event. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] "These days, whenever I go to an event venue, I only see Minister Park Young-sun."

Although the external event schedules of vice ministers from major government departments have noticeably decreased due to the second wave of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the movements of Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, remain unstoppable.

On the evening of the 16th, Minister Park attended the 'Brand K Night' event at the COEX Grand Intercontinental to celebrate the first anniversary of 'Brand K,' encouraging attendees. On the 15th, she awarded 164 venture entrepreneurs who increased jobs and contributed to exports despite the COVID-19 economic crisis. Last week, she attended the 'Women Entrepreneurs Day' commemorative event and awarded 75 women entrepreneurs. On the 17th, she will host the 'Caring Entrepreneurs Night' event at the Yeouido Korea Federation of SMEs, attended by about 40 CEOs from large corporations.

In the past two weeks alone, she has had 18 official external schedules disclosed to the media. Especially in December, with many year-end events, she has been busier, leading some to criticize, "She is more active in external events ahead of the mayoral election." This reflects the perception that she is preparing for next year's Seoul mayoral by-election.

Regarding this, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups explains, "You need to understand the unique characteristics of the ministry." Minister Park, who has a background as a broadcast reporter, anchor, and member of the National Assembly, possesses a popularity comparable to that of a celebrity, making her presence a special event for attendees.

Minister Park receives many requests for photographs, and small business and SME attendees often hang photos taken with the minister in their shops or upload them on their websites or social media as marketing materials.

Additionally, attendees directly meet the minister on-site to share their difficulties, and according to ministry officials, there have been many cases where problems were resolved or related regulations were eased through these interactions. A ministry official said, "Many people feel very disappointed when events are canceled," adding, "So when external events cannot be held, we sometimes invite them to the ministry building for a small-scale event."

Minister Park herself explained, "Under thorough quarantine measures, I will do my best for SMEs, startups, and small business owners," adding, "December is usually a very busy month for the ministry, and even though we significantly reduced events this year due to COVID-19, it is still like this." In the past month, 31 of Minister Park's external event schedules were announced to the media. During the same period last year, there were 43 external event schedules.

Regardless of her movements and responses, external attention is focused on Minister Park. Civil servants who intend to run for public office must resign at least 30 days before the election day. The Seoul mayoral by-election is scheduled for April 7 next year.

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