Yoon: "Startups to be Private Sector-Led... Formation of 2 Trillion Won Fund for Strategic Areas"

President Yoon Chairs 'Startup Korea Strategy Meeting'
Transforming Structure with Private Sector Focus While Expanding Government Support
Yoon: "Promoting Startup Korea Strategy for Economic Leap"

President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 30th, "We will boldly transform the startup ecosystem to be private-sector and market-centered," adding, "For strategic sectors such as deep tech, we will form a Startup Korea Fund worth 2 trillion won together with large corporations and financial institutions to provide support." This plan aims to build a private-sector driven market while expanding government support to establish a global-level hub, as part of the Yoon administration's key national agenda to foster ventures and startups.

On the same morning, President Yoon presided over the Startup Korea Strategy Meeting at the Blue House State Guest House, saying, "The government is promoting two major strategies for Startup Korea alongside a strong export drive to boost our economy," and shared these plans to support venture and startup growth.

This meeting was convened to discuss the vision and implementation strategies for Startup Korea to become a global startup powerhouse. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the 'Startup Korea Promotion Strategy,' and at the government level, unveiled blueprints for creating a global startup hub, promoting private venture investment, revitalizing regional startup clusters and improving regional venture investment environments, as well as activating open innovation and regulatory reforms to nurture deep tech startups.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the Startup Korea Strategy Meeting held at the Blue House State Guest House on the 30th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

In particular, following the budget announcement the previous day, President Yoon reiterated detailed support plans for venture and startup development. He promised, "The private sector should lead investments and grow the ecosystem independently, while the government must expand certain contributions and tax support for private mother funds," and added, "For strategic sectors like deep tech, we will form a Startup Korea Fund worth 2 trillion won together with large corporations and financial institutions to provide government support." Deep tech startups refer to companies that develop advanced hardware or software based on engineering and scientific research and development, a term coined in the U.S. venture investment industry.

He also urged fundamental changes to the venture and startup ecosystem. President Yoon said, "I believe the government-led startup ecosystem must also be boldly transformed into a private-sector and market-centered one," and emphasized, "We must break away from the quantitative increase in entrepreneurs driven by direct government support and the complacency of relying on the domestic market." He added, "Since our government took office, seven unicorn companies have emerged since last year, marking the largest increase ever," and stressed, "We must not be complacent with these achievements but lead fundamental changes in line with the rapidly changing global economic environment."

Startup Korea is one of the two slogans the Yoon administration set at the beginning of the year as core values to overcome the economic crisis. In his first New Year's address after taking office, President Yoon emphasized, "We will open the era of 'Startup Korea' not only in IT and bio industries but also in defense, nuclear power, carbon neutrality, and entertainment."

President Yoon's commitment to supporting ventures and startups is already fully reflected in the core national agenda. As a key policy to overcome the economic crisis announced at the start of the year, he reiterated in his first New Year's address, "We will open the era of 'Startup Korea' not only in IT and bio industries but also in defense, nuclear power, carbon neutrality, and entertainment."

The budget proposal for next year, released the previous day, also includes support measures for ventures and startups. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups allocated 1.4452 trillion won solely for the budget titled 'Leap to a Global Startup Venture Powerhouse.' Additionally, the budget for contributions to the mother fund for venture and startup development next year increased by 44.8% from this year to 454 billion won. Through this, the plan is to create a total fund of 1 trillion won, and the budget for TIPS, a public-private joint startup discovery program, increased by 18.4% compared to this year.

In line with this, President Yoon revealed plans to "establish a 2 trillion won 'Startup Korea' fund and create a Korean-style 'Station F,' a free startup space for young entrepreneurs." The creation of 'Space K,' modeled after France's startup hub 'Station F,' is underway. President Yoon visited Station F in Paris last June and said, "I saw young people of various nationalities and backgrounds challenging humanity's problems with a spirit of solidarity," and evaluated, "Station F is a symbol of internationalism and innovation." The government views Space K as playing a key role in globalizing the domestic startup ecosystem.

Following the announcement, an in-depth discussion on venture and startup growth strategies took place. Participants agreed on the need to activate global expansion and inflow of ventures and startups and to create a startup ecosystem where large corporations and startups coexist and cooperate. Opinions were also expressed that continuous government efforts are necessary for regulatory improvements and promotion of private investment to realize a startup powerhouse.

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