AI Venture and Startup Sector Welcomes IT Expert Hansung Sook's Nomination as Minister of SMEs and Startups

Interest in Government Support for GPU Budgets and Data Acquisition
Challenge Remains in Restructuring Demand Market Centered on SMEs and Mid-sized Companies

With the nomination of Hansung Sook, former CEO of Naver and an expert in venture business and IT, as the first Minister of SMEs and Startups in the new administration, the venture and startup sector in the artificial intelligence (AI) field is abuzz with anticipation. This is due to the government's stated goal of making Korea one of the 'top three AI powerhouses,' which is expected to bring about large-scale budget allocations and policy changes. However, there are also calls for not only support for resources such as graphic processing units (GPUs) and data, but also for structural changes to expand market demand, which is currently concentrated among large corporations, to include small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies.

Hansung Sook, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups, is arriving at the office prepared for the confirmation hearing at Samhee Excon Venture Tower in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 24th. 2025.06.24 Photo by Dongjoo Yoon

According to industry sources on the 25th, following Hansung Sook's nomination as Minister of SMEs and Startups, expectations are rising within the industry for expanded policies to support and foster AI startups. Hansung Sook is recognized as a first-generation IT expert who led corporate growth from the early days of Naver, and is highly regarded for her deep understanding of IT companies and the startup ecosystem.

In particular, there is growing industry attention on government support for securing GPUs. GPUs are essential resources for training and operating large-scale AI models, but depending on their performance, the price per unit can range from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won, creating a high barrier to entry for startups with limited financial resources. The CEO of a domestic AI solution company stated, "For companies operating their own large language models (LLMs), if the Ministry of SMEs and Startups increases budget support for securing GPUs, business operations would become much easier," adding, "For many new companies that rely on external LLMs, if the government builds and supports customized LLMs optimized for domestic needs, it can enhance the overall competitiveness of Korea's AI ecosystem."

There is also a strong call for the government to help open the way for securing the data needed to train AI models. High-quality data in specialized fields such as finance, healthcare, and law is expensive, and collecting and refining it takes considerable time, making it difficult for small companies to even enter the market. An industry official said, "The government needs to play an intermediary role so that SMEs can easily access high-quality data held by public institutions and large corporations," and added, "There are high expectations for the government to use its bargaining power to purchase quality private data at low cost and provide it to SMEs, or to expand the data voucher system to help startups establish a better training environment."

Experts are also consistently pointing out that, in addition to hardware-focused support, efforts must be made to bring about structural changes that expand the AI market from large corporations to SMEs and mid-sized companies. Last year, only 5.3% of Korean SMEs had adopted AI, and only 16.3% were considering adoption. As market demand remains rigidly centered on large corporations, new AI companies often struggle to find buyers and generate revenue, or after initially supplying technology to a few large companies, see their sales discontinued when those companies switch to using their own in-house teams.

Roh Minseon, a research fellow at the Korea Small Business Institute, said, "There is definitely demand for AI adoption among SMEs, although the degree varies," and advised, "However, since SMEs experience high business volatility and significant differences by industry, the government needs to consider not only budget support but also 'customized AI adoption strategies' tailored to the characteristics of each sector." Kim Younghwan, a research fellow at the Center for SME Technology Innovation Policy, said, "One reason for the low rate of AI adoption among SMEs is that the lack of standardized work environments makes it difficult to expect significant benefits from AI," adding, "Before promoting AI adoption, the government should establish and spread standardized guidelines for SMEs to maximize the effectiveness of AI utilization."

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