[Reporter’s Notebook] Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, Must Decide on Parliamentary Bid

Minister Lee Young, Ministry of SMEs and Startups [Photo by Yonhap News]

Kim Hak-do, Chairman of the Small and Medium Venture Business Corporation, and Lee Jae-hong, President of the Small and Medium Business Technology Information Promotion Agency, have already completed their terms. However, both remain in their positions. It is not by their own choice. Chairman Kim has already been assigned a position at the Chungbuk Provincial Government Office. But since Lee Young, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, who holds the actual appointment authority, has yet to decide on new heads for the agencies, they are reluctantly staying put.

People at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups believe this situation arose because Minister Lee is considering running for a parliamentary election. Heads of affiliated agencies act as the minister’s right-hand persons. Just as the president forms a cabinet, the minister appoints agency heads who align with their views. If the minister appoints someone to an agency head position and then runs for office, both the new minister and the agency heads would be in a difficult position simultaneously. In other words, it is seen that Minister Lee is in deep contemplation over whether to run.

Minister Lee’s record since taking office has been impressive. Within a year of his inauguration, he addressed long-standing industry demands such as the linkage system for delivery payments and multiple voting rights. Recently, he achieved a milestone by regularizing collaboration between OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, and domestic startups. The small and venture business sectors welcome a minister who is enthusiastic and delivers results. However, inside the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, there are different evaluations.

Recently, when meeting ministry employees, one senses that dissatisfaction is building up and may soon explode. Many civil servants report experiencing burnout syndrome due to the minister’s excessive policy drive. In regional offices such as local SME agencies, there are criticisms that the ministry focuses solely on global expansion and neglects policies to nurture local companies. It is said that by pursuing only flashy visible achievements, the ministry is overlooking regional startups that struggle even to attract domestic investment. There are voices both inside and outside the ministry accusing Minister Lee of being preoccupied with building a dazzling public image.

The minister’s overambition, seemingly preparing for the general election, is evident in several areas. At the one-year anniversary press conference, he promised to release a “comprehensive inter-ministerial venture and startup plan” within the month, but there has been no news. The briefing schedule for the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid reform plan was set but then suddenly canceled. These measures require cooperation from other agencies and cannot be issued by the ministry alone. It is worth considering whether the minister’s enthusiasm led to premature attempts to push these plans forward.

Since his inauguration in May last year, Minister Lee has shown noticeable activity for over a year. However, there is room to interpret his actions as efforts to build a favorable image for his candidacy. Minister Kwon Young-se of the Ministry of Unification and Chairperson Jeon Hyun-hee of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission have already declared their intentions to run in the general election. Now it is time for Minister Lee to make a decision about his own future.

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