Choi Seung-jae Ombudsman: "Regulations Must Not Hinder Startup Activation"

First Ombudsman Committee Meeting Held Since Taking Office

Choi Seung-jae, the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman, stated, "Regulations should not hinder the promotion of healthy market competition and the activation of startups."

Ombudsman Choi made these remarks on the 21st at the 'Small and Medium Business Ombudsman Committee' held at the Gwanghwamun Building in Seoul. During the committee meeting, deliberations were held on two regulatory improvement recommendation tasks.

The Ombudsman Committee serves as an advisory body on major decisions of the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman, such as regulatory improvement recommendations. The Small and Medium Business Ombudsman chairs the committee, with 14 experts from various fields participating as members.

Choi Seung-jae, Small and Medium Business Ombudsman, and members of the Ombudsman Committee are reviewing agenda items at the '2025 1st Small and Medium Business Ombudsman Committee' held on the 21st at the Gwanghwamun Building in Seoul. Photo by Ombudsman Support Group

In November last year, eight experienced private experts, including Im Chae-woon, Honorary Professor at Sogang University and former President of the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration and the 16th President of the Small and Medium Business Corporation, and Kim Cheol-gyun, Director of Dosan Academy, were newly appointed to strengthen the committee's expertise.

At this meeting, the committee discussed whether to recommend improvements on two agenda items: the deletion of joint guarantee clauses in local government ordinances and the exclusion of electric vehicles for autonomous driving research purposes from subsidy recovery. In particular, the committee conducted in-depth discussions on the fact that while central government ministries and most financial institutions have abolished the joint guarantee system, 75 local governments still have joint guarantee ordinances, which could impose a significant burden on small and medium enterprises and small business owners.

Based on the committee's deliberations, the Ombudsman plans to recommend the abolition of the joint guarantee system to the 75 local governments and the revision of the Ministry of Environment's work processing guidelines. In this case, the target institutions must submit an implementation plan to the Ombudsman within 30 days, and if they fail to comply, they must notify the reasons. Furthermore, if the recommendation is not implemented without justifiable reasons, the Ombudsman will publicly disclose the details.

Ombudsman Choi said, “Regulatory improvement recommendations are the Ombudsman's inherent authority and a grave responsibility defined by law,” adding, “I will actively fulfill the role entrusted to me.”

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