SMEs explore innovation to help Korea become one of the world’s top three AI powers ... Leaders Forum concludes

[Financial News] The 2026 SME Leaders Forum, where some 400 SME businesspeople from across the country gathered on Jeju to discuss AI transformation and growth strategies, has wrapped up its four-day, three-night program.
According to the Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) on the 23rd, this year’s forum was held under the theme ‘With SMEs, Toward Becoming One of the Top Three AI Powers.’ Key agenda items included innovation strategies for SMEs in the era of physical AI and phased support policies tailored to companies’ levels.
The forum opened with video congratulatory messages from National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik and Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, followed by lectures from opinion leaders across various fields, including novelist Kim Hong-shin; Park Yong-woo, head of the obesity clinic at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital; North Chungcheong Province Governor Shin Yong-han; docent Jeong Woo-cheol; Father Hwang Chang-yeon; Lee Jin-woo, vice president of Simpro TV; physiognomist Park Seong-jun; and TBWA CEO Kim Hyeong-tae.
The ‘Policy Forum on SME Innovation in the Era of Physical AI’ brought together experts from the private sector, government and academia, including Park Young-sun, chair of the Strategic Economic Advisory Group at the Ministry of Finance and Economy; Cho Ju-hyeon, president of the Korea Institute of SMEs and Startups; and Kim Jun-ha, dean of the Graduate School of AI Policy and Strategy at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology. In particular, Chair Park said that SMEs also need to innovate their operations and manufacturing sites themselves in response to new trends extending into agentic and physical AI.
KBIZ Chairman Ki-Moon Kim said, “The Leaders Forum, which began in 2007, has established itself as a flagship forum for the SME community,” adding, “I hope SMEs that understand the need for AI but are struggling with how to proceed have had time to prepare.”

[email protected] Lee Ju-mi Reporter