Minister Kwon Chil-seung Participates in 2nd Venture Boom Challenge... "Next Player 'Donation Angel' Kim Bong-jin"

Campaign to Spread the 2nd Venture Boom, Participation in Nomination of Kang Sam-gwon as Chairman of the Korea Venture Business Association
Minister Kwon: "Startups Are Opening the 'Spring of the Korean Economy'"

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups participated in the "2nd Venture Boom Challenge" on the 19th. He nominated Kim Bong-jin, Chairman of Woowa Brothers, as the next participant. Photo by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Kwon Chilseung, Minister of SMEs and Startups, joined the ‘Second Venture Boom Challenge.’ He nominated Kim Bongjin, Chairman of Woowa Brothers, as the next participant.

On the morning of the 19th, Minister Kwon posted on social networking services (SNS), “I would like to thank Kang Samgwon, Chairman of the Venture Business Association, who gave me the opportunity, and continue the ‘Second Venture Boom Challenge.’ It took 20 years for two thumbs up to meet,” he said.

The Second Venture Boom Challenge is a campaign started by the Venture Business Association on the 15th. Participants certify a photo on SNS showing two thumbs up and fists bumping together, symbolizing the wish for the continuation of the second venture boom. The first participant was Kang Samgwon, Chairman of the Venture Business Association, who nominated Minister Kwon as the next participant.

In the photo, Minister Kwon made a gesture of raising two thumbs up and bumping two fists together, explaining, “One thumb represents the ‘First Venture Boom’ that spread mainly around internet companies in the 2000s, and the other thumb represents the ‘Second Venture Boom,’ the startup enthusiasm that has now come close to us.”

Minister Kwon mentioned specific achievements of the second venture boom, saying, “Venture investment, which was 2 trillion won in 2000, recorded 4.3 trillion won in 2020. Also, the number of corporate startups, which had decreased to 62,000 in 2001, reached a record high of 123,000 in 2020. The KOSDAQ index hit 1,000 points again after 20 years and 7 months since September 2000.”

He added, “The employment scale of our venture companies is larger than that of the four major groups (Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG, SK), and new job creation is 5.6 times that of the four major groups. Just as two thumbs met, ventures and startups leading the first and second venture booms now meet as mature companies and startups, driving and competing with each other to open the ‘spring of the Korean economy.’”

Minister Kwon emphasized, “Flex~! Korean venture startups,” and added, “I nominate Kim Bongjin, Chairman of Woowa Brothers, the undisputed protagonist of the second venture boom and a donation angel, as the next participant.”