Ministry of SMEs and Startups names Jo Gyeong-won as new head of small business policy

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has tapped Jo Gyeong-won, 55, its director of startup policy, as the new director general of the Small Business Policy Bureau.

The ministry announced Thursday that Jo will assume the post effective Friday.

Jo is from North Jeolla Province and holds a degree in business administration from Seoul National University. Jo entered public service in 2002 after passing the 45th state administrative examination and has spent more than 20 years at the ministry, building expertise across small and medium-sized enterprise and small business policy.

Jo is credited with gaining broad experience in both policy development and field operations, having served as director of small business policy at the ministry and as an administrative official in the presidential office's self-employed business secretariat.

During that tenure as director of small business policy, Jo expanded the supply of policy financing for small business owners struggling under high inflation and high interest rates, and pushed initiatives to revitalize commercial districts. Jo also established a support framework for entrepreneurial small business owners — known as "Licons" — and introduced commercial district planners and neighborhood commercial district development centers to build a foundation for local small business growth.

As director of startup policy, Jo drove efforts to develop "startup cities" and led open innovation programs including "Everyone's Challenge," as well as TIPS and the ultra-gap project. Jo was particularly recognized for overseeing the planning and execution of the "Everyone's Startup Project," a program designed to help anyone in the country pursue entrepreneurship.

The Small Business Policy Bureau is the ministry's core unit responsible for stabilizing operations and strengthening the competitiveness of small business owners facing headwinds from sluggish domestic demand and rising operating costs. Jo will be tasked with helping small businesses overcome the current crisis through policy financing support, revitalizing local commercial districts, and nurturing entrepreneurial small business owners as part of a medium- to long-term growth strategy. Drawing on experience as startup policy director, Jo is also expected to push policies that shift the focus from simply supporting small business owners to cultivating them as drivers of innovation and growth.

Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young said Jo "is a talent who combines deep expertise in small business and policy financing with strong field instincts, as well as the proven drive demonstrated as startup policy director," adding that Jo is "the ideal person to overcome the crisis currently facing the small business sector and lead a forward-looking policy agenda."