Nearly half of SME Ministry's top posts to sit vacant within two months as leadership vacuum deepens

Uncertainty is mounting over South Korea's small business policy apparatus in the second half of the year, as a vacant minister post at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups collides with a wave of expiring leadership terms at its affiliated agencies. Since Han Sung-sook was appointed prime minister, the ministry has operated under acting Deputy Minister Noh Yong-seok since Wednesday. With the terms of several key agency heads set to expire in August and September, nearly half of the ministry's top policy positions could be vacant or in leadership transition within two months.

According to the ministry and its affiliated agencies Tuesday, the ministry has been running under Noh's acting stewardship since Han took office as prime minister. The minister's seat has been vacant for six days as of Tuesday. Even once the search for a successor formally begins, nominating a candidate, holding a National Assembly confirmation hearing and completing the appointment will inevitably take time.

The leadership clock at affiliated agencies has either stopped or is running out. Of the ministry's 11 public institutions, the Korea Technology Finance Corporation and the Korea SMEs and Startups Market are already operating under holdover chiefs whose terms have expired. On top of that, Kang Seok-jin, president of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, and Kim Young-sin, head of the Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs, will both see their terms end on Aug. 31. Among the ministry's 11 public institutions alone, four are either already in holdover or entering a leadership transition.

The gap widens further when related bodies are included. The Partnership Growth Commission, which oversees cooperation policy between large and small businesses, is also approaching the expiration of its chairman's term in September. Counting the vacant minister post, the two holdover chiefs at the technology finance corporation and the distribution agency, and the three upcoming term expirations at the startups agency, the technology promotion agency and the commission, six key leadership positions across the ministry's policy execution chain will effectively be empty.

The most prolonged vacancy is at the Korea Technology Finance Corporation. President Kim Jong-ho's term ended Nov. 7, 2024, but with no successor named, he has continued in the role for 607 days. The corporation is a core policy finance institution responsible for technology guarantees and financial support for innovative companies. It handles on-the-ground execution of guarantee supply, technology assessment and venture and startup support policy — an arrangement that risks fueling debate over accountability the longer it continues.

At the Korea SMEs and Startups Market, CEO Lee Tae-sik's term ended April 13, leaving the post 85 days past its expiration as of Tuesday. The agency handles retail support and public procurement for small businesses, marketing assistance, and distribution policy execution for small businesses and self-employed merchants, including the government's "Donghang Festival" campaign. Unlike Korea Home Shopping, which resolved a roughly 18-month leadership vacancy in March by appointing Lee Il-yong as its new chief, the distribution agency has yet to complete its successor search.

The deeper concern is not the expirations themselves but their timing. The ministry's budget this year stands at 16.52 trillion won ($10.8 billion). Most of its on-the-ground programs — policy lending, research and development, support for small merchants, export and market access, and startup and venture initiatives — are executed through affiliated agencies. If the minister vacancy and the wave of agency leadership changes overlap, the resulting gap in policy oversight could intensify debate over the ministry's ability to manage second-half budget execution, respond to parliamentary audits and design next year's programs.

Inside and outside the ministry, officials expect the appointment of a new minister to have a direct bearing on the agency leadership searches as well. Selecting a public institution head requires forming a candidate recommendation committee, running an open recruitment process, conducting document and interview reviews, obtaining a formal recommendation from the minister and clearing a presidential office vetting process. A prolonged minister vacancy could push back the agency appointments in sequence.

"There are no names circulating yet for the minister post to succeed Prime Minister Han," an official at one of the ministry's affiliated agencies said. "The leadership searches at the agencies are also being pushed back one by one. Responses to parliamentary audits and key decisions could end up being delayed or deferred."