Startup Industry Urges President-Elect for "Bold Regulatory Innovation"

CEO Seongjin Choi

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The startup industry emphasized to President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol that it is especially important to innovate regulations that hinder corporate growth.

On the 10th, Choi Sung-jin, CEO of the Korea Startup Forum, stated, "The key is how many opportunities can be given to startups, but in our country, there are many institutional barriers blocking opportunities." The industry evaluates that although efforts were made for regulatory innovation in the current government, the results were insufficient. Regarding the need for bold regulatory innovation, President-elect Yoon also responded, "Regulations are cancerous entities that block social development," and added, "Regulations that hinder the growth of innovative startups will be transformed digitally using big data and artificial intelligence."

Fostering digital innovation talent is also one of the main expectations the startup industry has for the new government. They argue that bold innovation in public education curricula is necessary to respond to the workforce demand arising from the digital economy transition. CEO Choi said, "We hope the new government will play a role so that the nurtured talents can actually start startups or work at startups."

The new government’s role in creating a startup ecosystem was also anticipated. CEO Choi said, "It is true that our country's startup ecosystem is developing well, but compared to the United States and China, the gap is very large," and added, "Active government involvement is necessary." Specifically, the industry insists on the need to create a labor environment suited to the reality of startups. CEO Choi stated, "Current labor regulations are designed for manufacturing industries," and "We believe a new institutional approach suitable for startups and innovative industries is necessary. Not only improving the 52-hour workweek system but also discussing in detail how to approach this is essential for the new government."

He also emphasized revitalizing investment in startups. CEO Choi said, "With the current size of funds based on the Korea Fund of Funds, it is impossible to nurture unicorn companies, so a mega fund is needed," and added, "We also need to enhance the global competitiveness of our capital." To this end, policies are needed to make it easier for the public to invest in startups and to allow more flexible approaches to corporate venture capital (CVC) led by large corporations, so that startup investment can become a more common investment method in the capital market.

The Korea Startup Forum is an organization supporting the development of the startup ecosystem and representing common interests, with over 1,800 startups and innovative companies as members. Ahead of this presidential election, it released the "A Good Country for Startups: 11 Major Tasks and 40 Policies," which summarizes industry opinions, and plans to deliver this to the incoming transition team to request the inclusion of these in national policy agendas.

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