Startup Presented as a Solution to Polarization Shows Early Promise Six Months Into National Project [One Year of the Lee Jae Myung Administration]

President Lee Jae-myung's push for startups earlier this year has shown signs of success within just four months.
At the National Startup Era Strategy Meeting held in late January, Lee outlined his vision, saying, "There is a limit to simply creating good jobs in the ordinary way. In the end, the path is startups." The government’s subsequent Everyone's Startup project drew more than 60,000 applicants, a development seen as laying the groundwork for a startup ecosystem. However, some also warn that the startup boom could further entrench the trend of young people avoiding small and medium-sized companies because of low wages and other concerns.
According to government officials on the 4th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups considers the National Startup Era Policy one of the biggest achievements of the first year of the Lee Jae Myung administration.
In particular, the Everyone's Startup project, which allows anyone with an idea to take on the challenge of starting a business, broke the record for the largest number of applications ever received for a startup or idea contest run by a government ministry.
Everyone's Startup was introduced for the first time at the January National Startup Era Strategy Meeting. Lee launched the project by proposing a shift toward a startup-centered society as a way to overcome widening inequality driven by K-shaped growth.
A total of 62,944 applicants signed up for the Everyone's Startup project, which accepted entries from March 26 to May 15.
Public interest was intense, with cumulative visits to the official platform surpassing 1,418,600 by the application deadline.
The government will select about 100 "Startup Rookie" winners through a staged audition process and provide 100 million won in startup funding. The final winner will receive benefits worth 1 billion won, including a 500 million won prize and 500 million won in venture investment funds.
The project also appears to have helped shift public attitudes toward startups. In a survey conducted by the ministry among participants, the share of respondents who viewed startups as "a challenge with high barriers to entry" fell from 64% before they became aware of the project to 33.1% afterward, a drop of 30.9 percentage points. By contrast, the willingness to try starting a business rose from 67.2% to 89.5%.
The ministry plans to launch the second round of Everyone's Startup next month, doubling the recruitment target to 10,000 people.
The venture investment market also expanded during the first year of the Lee Jae Myung administration. After the government announced the Comprehensive Measures for Making Korea a Venture Powerhouse in December last year, 440 billion won in new venture funds were formed in the first quarter of this year. That was up 30.7% from a year earlier. New venture investment reached 330 billion won, an increase of 24.1% over the same period.
Still, some observers say there are not yet enough measures to address the possible neglect of small and medium-sized companies or the risks of startup failure.
One small business official said, "Even now, the concentration on jobs at large companies is severe. If everyone rushes into startups, it is hard to know where the already scarce workforce for small and medium-sized companies will come from."
honestly82@fnnews.com Kim Hyun-cheol Reporter