President Moon's First Economic Move in Year 4: Strong Commitment to Fostering Startups

President Moon Jae-in is speaking at the 'Next Generation Global Youth Startup Meeting' held on the 14th at the Narakeum Youth Hub Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] President Moon Jae-in (face) chose 'startup' as his first economic move in the fourth year of his presidency. He expressed a strong commitment to fostering new industries and new technologies, the driving forces of innovation in our economy in the post-COVID-19 era.

On the 14th at 11 a.m., President Moon visited the Narakeum Youth Startup Hub in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and held a meeting with next-generation global youth startup representatives. A Blue House official explained, "As digital new economy and non-face-to-face economic activities increase due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the purpose is to invite and encourage youth startup entrepreneurs who are growing into global leaders by turning the crisis into an opportunity and to emphasize the commitment to fostering startups."

The attendees at the meeting were 21 leaders from 20 domestic startups selected as 'Asia Global Leaders under 30' by Forbes magazine in the United States. Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Kim Kwang-hyun, President of the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development, and Lee Young-min, CEO of Korea Venture Investment Corp., also attended.

At the meeting, the online education platform 'Qanda,' which has gained attention after the COVID-19 outbreak, was selected as an excellent case. The co-CEOs Lee Jong-heun and Lee Yong-jae of the startup 'Masspresso,' which developed the service, conducted a demonstration and presentation. Qanda provides an online problem-solving service based on its own developed artificial intelligence (AI) character recognition technology. It has surpassed 8 million global subscribers, an average of 2 million questions per day, and a cumulative total of 800 million questions, currently offering services in 11 countries.

Startups are the core driving force leading the 'leading economy' among the economic plans announced by President Moon in his special speech on the third anniversary of his inauguration on the 10th, emphasizing the will to 'overcome national crises.' President Moon stated, "We have excellent infrastructure and world-class competitiveness in the ICT sector," adding, "We are fully equipped with the capabilities to lead the digital economy by combining 4th industrial revolution technologies such as AI and big data. We will make Korea leap forward as a 'digital powerhouse' leading the world with innovative ventures and startups as the main force."

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, which has posed a great challenge to existing major traditional industries, the government’s judgment is that startups and venture companies must be strategically fostered to open opportunities for economic growth, especially in difficult times.