Park Young-sun "Letting Go of Everything and Heading to the Wilderness"... Seoul Mayoral Candidacy Imminent

"Jilju Yeongseon and Beoreok Yeongseon Send Warm Love to Employees Who Patiently Endured"

Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun is greeting virtual participants at the New Year's meeting of small and medium-sized business owners held on the afternoon of the 19th at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] On the 20th, Park Young-sun, who announced her resignation as Minister of SMEs and Startups, said, "Now I will let go of everything and head into the wilderness." This is interpreted as an indirect indication of her intention to run in the Seoul mayoral by-election.

On the same day, Minister Park posted a message titled "To my beloved employees of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups" on her Facebook.

She began by saying, "Now, the time to part has finally come," and "I truly did not want to leave, but I have no choice but to go."

She added, "Over the past 1 year and 9 months (654 days), we have lived fiercely, passionately, and deeply together," and "I vividly remember the loud applause and big smiles from you all on the first day I came down to Daejeon. I hope I have repaid your warm welcome well."

Minister Park evaluated that even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups laid the foundation for the digital economy and created a record where small and medium enterprises became the backbone of exports.

She continued, "Together with small and medium venture entrepreneurs, we created as many as 120,000 new jobs last year, opening the era of 800,000 jobs in SMEs and ventures, strengthening the backbone of the Korean economy, which ranks second in the business world in terms of job scale."

She recalled, "To solve the mask shortage crisis, I visited mask factories and accelerated smart processes to increase production volume," and "At the flood damage sites in Gurye and Hadong, we eased the worries of small business owners through one-on-one customized proactive administration."

She also said, "I will never forget the hard work of the employees who stayed up all night to promptly provide the Saehopeum Fund and the Buttress Fund, which were the first-ever direct cash support to small business owners."

Minister Park sent warm love to the employees who endured the sometimes fast-paced and fiery Park Young-sun, saying, "To the employees who patiently followed the sometimes sprinting and sometimes fiery Young-sun, I send my warm love," and ended with, "I leave everything in the hands of all of you whom I truly wanted to embrace."

Earlier, Minister Park expressed her intention to resign this morning to run in the Seoul mayoral by-election scheduled for April. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced to the press, "Minister Park expressed her resignation earlier this morning."

Minister Park is scheduled to chair the expanded executive meeting of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups at the Daejeon office at 2 p.m. on the same day and conclude her official schedule. There will be no separate farewell ceremony.