Candidate Oh Young-joo's Confirmation Hearing... Ruling and Opposition Clash Over 'SME Expertise'

Opposition: "35-Year Diplomat Lacks SME Expertise"
Ruling Party: "Key Position for Opening Export Channels"

On the 21st, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over "expertise" during the confirmation hearing of Oh Young-joo, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups.

Oh Young-joo, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups, is responding to questions from lawmakers at the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 21st.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At the confirmation hearing held that morning at the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, and SMEs and Startups Committee, Hong Jung-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "I am not sure if it is necessary to ask policy questions," adding, "Even when asked about policy issues related to small and medium enterprises, small business owners, and startups, the nominee merely reads answers written by staff, so it is difficult to expect how much of his own consideration is reflected."

Hong continued, "Oh is a former foreign service officer with 35 years of diplomatic experience and has no connection or expertise related to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups," criticizing, "At a time when small and medium enterprises, small business owners, and startups are facing a major crisis due to economic recession, high inflation, and high interest rates, we cannot casually entrust the important position of Minister of SMEs and Startups to a non-expert."

Lee Jang-seop, a Democratic Party member, also pointed out, "The first thing to look at when appointing someone is their experience or work handling in the relevant field, but just meeting small businesses briefly while working as a diplomat cannot be considered experience," adding, "It makes me suspect that President Yoon Suk-yeol does not consider small and medium enterprise policy important."

Jeong Il-young, another Democratic Party member, said, "(Oh) lacks expertise, and it would be more understandable if he were appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, but he is not suitable as Minister of SMEs and Startups at all," and criticized, "He seems to have recently met with small and medium enterprises and small business owners and visited the field, but how can he solve these urgent issues by studying like that?"

On the other hand, the ruling party viewed Oh's diplomatic experience as beneficial to SME policies. Han Moo-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, explained, "When I looked into how a diplomat is related to SME policies, I found that trade attach?s and related institutions usually hold meetings weekly or biweekly at embassies," adding, "It was understood that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, public institutions, and the private sector form Team Korea to respond jointly."

Choi Hyung-doo, also from the People Power Party, said, "Small and medium enterprises do not only operate in the domestic market; they must break through the blue ocean of exports beyond the red ocean of domestic demand," adding, "We need to open export channels for SMEs to survive, and I believe Oh has taken on an important role that will save SMEs and strong small businesses and determine the future of many employed people in our country."

Oh Young-joo acknowledged, "I fully understand the various concerns about expertise," and explained, "Korea's overseas diplomatic missions in 167 countries actually play a significant role in protecting our companies and economy by handling many regulatory matters."

He added, "Especially in the case of the Vietnamese embassy, since Vietnam is one of the top three trading partners and about 9,000 companies and around 42 public institutions are present there, it is the ambassador's duty to utilize all infrastructure well to support the advancement of our companies."

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