Lee So

Lee So-young, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups, said he will continue his policy stance to encourage start-ups and make efforts to allow investment funds to flow into the KOSDAQ market.

In his opening remarks at a confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 15th, candidate Lee said, "We will open an era of 'national start-ups' where everyone challenges and grows through bold regulatory rationalization and restoration of trust in the capital market." Prime Minister Han Seong Sook's stance is to continue policies to encourage start-ups, including "everyone's start-up," which he carried out as an emphasis project when he was a minister.

"We will restore the falling trust of the KOSDAQ market and make new funds flow in," he said. "We will not just consider it as a financial committee, but will speak out on behalf of small and medium-sized venture companies."

At the confirmation hearing held on the same day, the opposition party focused on real estate issues such as "one non-residential house" and the lack of expertise in small and medium-sized businesses and small businesses.

Choi Soo-jin, a member of the People's Power, criticized Lee's non-residential 1 house for contradicting the government's real estate policy, saying, "Lee has not lived in the apartment for seven years since he bought it in Hongje-dong, Seoul, and has made about 500 million won in book profits." In response, candidate Lee replied, "The government policy is to differentiate tax benefits for non-resident single-home owners, not direct regulation."

Choi also pointed out that the candidate's spouse's remittance of 220 million won to the candidate's mother's charter is also a "de facto gift." Candidate Lee said, "I thought it was not a gift, considering it as support for living expenses for housing expenses. We will act more closely in the future," he said.

The ruling party mainly allocated time to ask candidates' opinions on SME policies. Regarding the public delivery app, which has a budget of 124 billion won next year, candidate Lee said, "We will consider using it in a more efficient way, not just a way to distribute coupons." Currently, the government has set aside 120 billion won in issuing coupons in delivery apps and 4 billion won in promotional budgets.

When asked about his position on the 52-hour workweek, he mentioned the need for improvement, saying, "It is not suitable for today's work system to give a business operator up to two years in prison when violating it while setting 52 hours a week as a uniform and strong regulation."

The candidate also said that the budget for Onnuri gift certificates for next year should not be reduced. Candidate Lee said, "(Next year's budget) should not be reduced," adding, "Local currency can only be used within the region, so there is no effect of money flowing into the metropolitan area, and the two systems are complementary to each other and have advantages and disadvantages."

Some lawmakers, including Woo Jae-joon, the People's Power, pointed out that candidate Lee, a former environmental lawyer, mainly proposed environmental-related bills, could run counter to the measures to foster small and medium-sized enterprises.

In response, candidate Lee said, "Overall, the global trend has changed toward strengthening climate response. "We need to respond to climate as a preemptive industrial strategy," he said. "When I visited the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses, I was asked to overhaul the system because SMEs were unable to respond to the system (achieving greenhouse gas reduction targets). I will try harder to have a harmonious and balanced perspective," he promised.