Democratic Party Recruits Young Entrepreneur as 14th Talent... "Will Create an Ecosystem Tolerant of Failure"

▲ Jo Dong-in, CEO of Mittelstand.

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] The Democratic Party of Korea has recruited Jo Dong-in, a 9-year veteran young entrepreneur and CEO of Mittelstand (age 30), as its 14th general election talent. CEO Jo expressed his aspiration, saying, "I want to be a person who shares and heals the pain of young people."

The Democratic Party's Talent Recruitment Committee held a press conference at the National Assembly on the morning of the 28th and announced the recruitment of CEO Jo as a general election talent.

The recruitment committee explained the reason for recruitment, stating, "CEO Jo is a 9-year startup expert," and "this reflects the intention to concretize the Democratic Party's second general election pledge, 'Achieving the Four Major Venture Powerhouses.'” He is the second startup entrepreneur recruited as a general election talent by the Democratic Party, following lawyer Hong Jeong-min.

Born in Daegu in 1989, CEO Jo graduated from Gumi Electronics Technical High School (2008) and earned a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Kyungpook National University (2018). In his senior year of college, he founded his first startup, 'Happy Weekend With Us,' and has started a total of five ventures over eight years. Currently, he is engaged in edutech business developing startup education planning and educational content, alongside giving lectures. He has received several awards including the Korea Talent Award in 2015, Young Entrepreneur Award in 2016, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Award for University Startup Promising Team 300 in 2017, and Minister of SMEs and Startups Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education in 2019.

At the party admission ceremony, CEO Jo stated, "I want to be someone who shares and heals the pain of young people in this land." He added, "What those challenging startups need right now is not certainty of success but hope that they can continue to take on challenges. I will solve the problems of youth and our startup ecosystem that is not tolerant of failure, and create hope to try again through laws and systems."