87% of female breadwinner startup fund left unspent, only 2 new applicants last year

A government-backed startup fund designed to help economically vulnerable female breadwinners left 2.1 billion won of its 2.4 billion won ($1.76 million) budget unspent last year, newly released audit data shows. The fund's execution rate has plunged from 71 percent to 13 percent over the past four years — less than one-fifth of its former level — and only two new applicants received support last year, prompting calls for a full overhaul of the program.

Im Moon-young, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Resources, SMEs and Startups Committee, said Friday that an analysis of an internal audit of the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association conducted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups had uncovered serious budget under-execution.

In a comprehensive audit of the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association conducted in April, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups found that only 300 million won of the program's 2.4 billion won budget was actually disbursed last year, putting the execution rate at just 13 percent. A five-year review showed that while the annual budget held steady at 2.4 billion won from 2022 through 2025, actual disbursements fell sharply — from 1.7 billion won (71 percent) in 2022, to 1.4 billion won (58 percent) in 2023, to 800 million won (32 percent) in 2024.

Participation in the program has also been declining. The ministry's report noted that "applicants were either existing recipients or existing recipients who had extended their support period, with only two new applicants identified," and added that the association had taken no meaningful steps to reverse the trend. "Despite participation rates falling every year, the association has done nothing to promote the program or improve and restructure its support system — it is simply maintaining the status quo," the report said.

According to the audit report, after the ministry called on the association to take corrective action to boost participation, the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association pledged to "promptly develop improvement and restructuring measures so that program budgets are no longer left unused, and to manage program operations with greater rigor."

The female breadwinner startup fund is a program run by the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association to support business creation among low-income female breadwinners, with the aim of promoting household stability, self-reliance and women's entrepreneurship. It has operated since November 1999, providing store rental deposit support to eligible recipients.

Im called on the ministry and the association to conduct a full review of the program — covering eligibility criteria, income thresholds and support methods — and to redesign it with annual execution rate targets and new-beneficiary goals to track performance. "If nearly 90 percent of a budget meant for female breadwinners goes unspent, we need to examine whether the system is actually working on the ground," Im said.

Im added that while he agreed with the ministry's proposed direction for improvement, a verbal commitment made in response to an audit finding was not enough. "I will use the national audit to press the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to set a clear implementation deadline for the redesign of the female breadwinner startup fund," he said.