Startups expected to benefit from new government policies

President Yoon Suk-yeol, fifth from right, speaks during his meeting with representatives from startups at Signature Tower in Seoul in this December 2021 file photo. Joint Press Corps.

By Park Jae-hyuk

Domestic startups look like they will be freed from tough regulations imposed by the previous administration, as the newly inaugurated Yoon Suk-yeol administration has indicated its intention for them to have more autonomy, according to industry officials, Tuesday.

Since Yoon started running for the presidency last year, he has been claiming that regulations on startups should be minimized so that they can be more innovative.

Although the Moon Jae-in administration had also promised to ease regulations on them, its policies in favor of small business owners fell short of the expectations of local startups, most of which operate online platforms.

"Online platforms should play the leading role for the development of our society," Yoon said during his election campaign. "Regulations could obstruct the development of our society."

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The new president also vowed to reform laws related to startups and online platforms, enabling the private sector to strengthen its role in relevant industries.

From that standpoint, the new administration invited startup founders and chief executives to Yoon's inauguration ceremony.

Including Kang Han-seung, the representative director of Coupang, which was recognized for creating a significant number of jobs in Korea, Woowa Brothers CEO Kim Beom-jun, Kurly CEO Kim Seul-ah, Viva Republica CEO Lee Seung-gun, Yanolja CEO Lee Su-jin, Oasis Market CEO Ahn Jun-hyung and Zigbang CEO Ahn Sung-woo were on the list of invitees, along with the heads of several other profitable startups.

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon and Kim Sung-soo, chairman of Kakao's board of directors, were also invited to Tuesday's event.

Although each company remains cautious about expressing any opinions about regulations on startups and the online platform industry, the Korea Startups Forum comprised of 1,800 startups has asked for the Yoon administration to make drastic reforms to such regulations.

"We hope the new government will enable Korea to become a global leader in the digital economy, by making a good country for founding startups," the organization said in a statement.

The new government, however, still needs to convince small business owners who call for regulations on online platform operators.

The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise said in a statement that the Online Platform Fairness Act should be legislated under the new administration.

Although the presidential transition committee did not mention the proposed bill in the Yoon government's 110 national tasks announced earlier this month, it has been expected that the new administration will not seek to pass the bill that had been pursued by the previous administration's antitrust regulator.

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