New heads take charge at key Ministry of SMEs and Startups agencies

Public institutions under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups are undergoing a wave of leadership changes. Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, which handles policy financing for small businesses, and Korea SMEs and Startups Distribution Agency, which supports market access, both inaugurated new chiefs on the same day — one a former politician, the other a career bureaucrat.

Park Jae-ho, a former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, took office Friday as the 20th chairman of Korea SMEs and Startups Agency at the agency's headquarters in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province. On the same day, Choi Won-young, a former director general for small merchant policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, was inaugurated as the 14th chief executive of Korea SMEs and Startups Distribution Agency at its office in Seoul's Mokdong.

Park built his career in the National Assembly and public institutions, while Choi spent 28 years at the ministry handling policy for small and medium-sized enterprises and small merchants.

Park was born in Busan in 1959. He graduated from Busan University of Foreign Studies with a degree in French and earned a master's degree in public administration from Chung-Ang University's Graduate School of Public Administration. He served as a senior presidential secretary for political affairs before leading the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation as chairman from 2005 to 2008. He later won election to the 20th and 21st National Assembly from the Nam-gu constituency in Busan.

Korea SMEs and Startups Agency has now installed a politician as its chief for the second consecutive term, following former People Power Party lawmaker Kang Seok-jin. The appointment carries expectations that Park's political experience will help coordinate policy with the government and the Assembly, but he also faces the challenge of demonstrating expertise in policy finance.

In his inaugural address, Park outlined three management priorities: strengthening on-site communication, generating tangible growth outcomes for supported companies, and running a fair and transparent organization. "During my time as a lawmaker, I met many business owners and heard their voices firsthand," he said. "I will make sure the agency's support translates into real results on the ground."

Choi, who will lead Korea SMEs and Startups Distribution Agency, brings extensive experience in SME and small merchant policy. Born in 1971, Choi graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in mechanical engineering and holds a master's in technology management from KAIST and a master's in public administration from the University of Colorado.

Choi spent roughly 28 years at the ministry from 1998, working across a range of policy areas including exports, finance and market access. He most recently served as director general for global growth policy and director general for small merchant policy. His broad experience in overseas expansion for SMEs and small merchant support is seen as a strong fit for the agency's work.

In his first remarks as chief, Choi laid out a vision to transform the agency into a leading national marketing policy institution. He outlined four strategic directions: redefining the agency's identity around its core functions, establishing a sustainable management framework, strengthening its policy role through changes to its marketing functions, and enhancing organizational capacity.

Choi particularly stressed support tailored to each company's growth stage and product characteristics, with a focus on identifying SMEs and small merchants with strong products that struggle to find sales channels and connecting them to real commercial outcomes. He also plans to strengthen the agency's policy functions so that the public procurement system can serve as a growth platform for innovative companies, including startups and venture firms.

"The market-access support we provide is like a lifeline for small businesses and merchants struggling in the field — it helps them bear fruit at the final stage and grow into going concerns," Choi said. "I will be a reliable partner who gets out in the field alongside our staff to break through the difficulties and bottlenecks that have held businesses back."

Korea SMEs and Startups Distribution Agency was established in 1995 as a market-access support body for small businesses, running marketing support programs for SMEs and sales channel programs for small merchants. With the government currently discussing a possible merger with the public home-shopping network, Choi will also need to navigate a potential organizational restructuring. Strengthening the agency's market-access functions so that SMEs' and small merchants' products translate into actual sales and market entry is another key challenge ahead.

Earlier, Korea Technology Finance Corporation welcomed a new chairman in July, appointing Kwon Hyung-taek, former chief executive of Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation. Born in 1968, Kwon graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in international economics and earned a master's in management information systems from the University of Michigan. He previously served at Woori Bank's investment banking division and as an executive director at HSBC, before going on to serve as a standing director at Seoul Metro Line 9 Operations and chief executive of Gimpo Goldline Operations.

Since taking office, Kwon has been pushing to expand support for future strategic industries such as AI and deep tech, upgrade technology assessment capabilities, and strengthen technology commercialization functions. Marking 100 days in office Thursday, he announced a vision to evolve the agency "beyond technology guarantees into a comprehensive technology innovation support institution," and identified organizational restructuring, AI-based technology assessment upgrades and fiscal expansion as key priorities.