[Profile] Lee Young, Nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Lee Young, a member of the People Power Party nominated as the first Minister of SMEs and Startups under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, is a lawmaker who previously served as the CEO of an IT security specialist company.

Candidate Lee was born in Seoul in 1969, graduated from the Department of Mathematics at Kwangwoon University, and completed doctoral coursework in cryptography at KAIST Graduate School.

As a first-generation security expert, she co-founded Terten, a data security company, in 2000 along with seniors and juniors from KAIST. She has served as president of the Korea Women Venture Association, vice chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, and vice chairman of the Korea Software Industry Association.

She has been recognized for pioneering the domestic security solution sector, receiving awards such as the Patent Office Commissioner Award for Women Venture Entrepreneurs, the Prime Minister’s Commendation for Women Trade Workforce Merit, and the Korea Multimedia Technology Award.

As a female venture entrepreneur, she entered the 21st National Assembly as a proportional representative of the United Future Party. She is the only venture business-origin lawmaker within the People Power Party. She has made practical efforts to foster SMEs and startups by proposing the "Three Acts Package to Revitalize SMEs and Startups."

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol stated, "Representative Lee understands the difficulties of SMEs and startups well and knows how to listen to voices from the field," adding, "She will lead well so that many excellent venture companies can emerge to nurture strong small and medium enterprises in various fields and provide Korea’s future growth engines."

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