Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups Nominee, "Will Include Delivery Price Linkage Plan in Contract"

Lee Young, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups, is attending the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 11th and taking the witness oath. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Lee Young, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated on the 11th that regarding the long-standing demand of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for the 'Delivery Price Linkage System,' "If appointed as minister, I will promote a plan to include at least a clause in contracts that delivery prices must be linked."

The National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee held a confirmation hearing for the nominee on the same day. The Delivery Price Linkage System, mainly discussed as a support measure for SMEs suffering from the recent surge in raw material prices, emerged as a key issue during the hearing.

Yang Geum-hee, a member of the People Power Party, asked the nominee, "If you become the Minister of SMEs and Startups, how will you address the issue of rising raw material prices?" In response, Lee said, "Regarding the implementation of the Delivery Price Linkage System, the Fair Trade Commission and the transition committee agreed on its necessity, but since excessive government intervention can cause problems, the direction is to leave it to autonomy. However, my personal view is that autonomy alone cannot resolve the issue in the market." He added, "At the very least, a clause stating that delivery prices must be linked should be included in contracts, and agreements should also specify how conclusions will be reached if certain situations arise. This can later be used by companies to defend or protect themselves if problems occur."

Kim Kyung-man, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, also pointed out the need to introduce the linkage system as a measure to resolve the polarization between large corporations and SMEs and asked for the nominee's opinion. Lee responded, "In the past, 99% of the customers of the company I was involved with were large corporations," and added, "I witnessed situations where SMEs bore the responsibility in unpredictable circumstances such as fair pricing issues between large and small companies and rising raw material prices." He continued, "I believe that leaving this issue to the market with lukewarm measures like incentives is not appropriate," emphasizing, "I will actively promote legislation to resolve the problem of soaring raw material prices."

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