[Manbo Jeongdam] Lee Jeonghan, Chairperson of Women Entrepreneurs Association, "Women Entrepreneurs Should Look Overseas"

The Secret to Health is 'Walking'... Hiking with a Backpack at Lake Park
Women's Week Theme: 'Global Empowerment and Export Expansion'
"Hoping for a Female Steve Jobs to Emerge in Korea"

One word that aptly describes Lee Jeong-han, president of the Korea Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (KFWE), is "challenge." Starting from a small ironworks business, she grew BY Industry into a specialized company with sales in the 10 billion KRW range in the metal material processing and distribution sector, where female entrepreneurs are rare. This journey was literally a series of challenges. Taking on the role of president of the Women Entrepreneurs Association in 2022 and becoming the spokesperson for 3.14 million female enterprises in Korea, as well as creating the "Women Entrepreneurs Week" hosted by the KFWE to promote the growth of women entrepreneurs, were all challenges she embraced. She describes herself as "someone who always fearlessly takes on tasks."

As she prepares for the 3rd Women Entrepreneurs Week to be held in early July this year, she embarks on a new challenge alongside Korean women entrepreneurs. It is not just about successfully hosting the event. She has a grand vision to use this as a stepping stone to open the path for Korean women entrepreneurs to enter the global market. "This year, we will take the lead in pioneering global markets for women entrepreneurs by collaborating with large corporations with overseas distribution networks and related organizations," she has emphasized. The slogan for this year’s Women Entrepreneurs Week, "K-Women Entrepreneurs Opening New Opportunities on the Global Stage," encapsulates this vision.

On the afternoon of the 11th, while preparations for the Women Entrepreneurs Week were in full swing, President Lee walked through Maehun Citizen’s Forest in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, wearing a light-colored suit and sneakers under the early summer sunshine. She takes care of her health by walking whenever she has time. She said, "I walk in the morning after waking up and try to walk in the evening as well. My health secret is carrying a backpack and walking around the lake park near my home for about 30 minutes to an hour and a half every day."

Lee Jeong-han, President of the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association, is walking along the Maehun Citizens' Forest Path in Yangjae-dong, Seoul. Photo by Huh Young-han younghan@

Below is a Q&A with President Lee.

- In your New Year's address this year, you said you would take the lead in pioneering global markets for women entrepreneurs.

▲ According to the "2023 Women Entrepreneurs Survey" released by the Women’s Economic Research Institute, as of 2022, the export-to-sales ratio of women-owned businesses is 2.6%, and only 1.9% of women entrepreneurs have export experience. Most women-owned businesses have limited export experience and scale, focusing mainly on the domestic market. Now is the time when women entrepreneurs must inevitably turn their eyes overseas for survival and greater leaps forward.

- What specific projects is the Korea Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (KFWE) promoting to support companies’ global expansion?

▲ The Women Entrepreneurs Comprehensive Support Center, affiliated with KFWE, is implementing a new project this year called the "Global Accelerating Support Project," supported by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. This project targets companies within seven years of establishment that wish to enter overseas markets, providing practical training, consulting, global promotion, and overseas market development support. The goal is to help promising women startups achieve actual overseas expansion and nurture them into new unicorn companies.

We are also planning to facilitate women entrepreneurs’ entry into overseas markets by enabling them to join domestic online platforms expanding abroad. The association always keeps its doors open and is knocking on closed doors.

- The first week of July is Women Entrepreneurs Week. What is this year’s theme and what activities are planned?

▲ The 3rd event this year is being prepared under the theme of "Strengthening Global Competence and Expanding Exports." Through this week, we aim to inspire new interest and motivation for overseas expansion among many women entrepreneurs and create a hopeful and leap-forward platform for export expansion and overseas market development. To this end, we have prepared various education programs, policy forums, counseling sessions, and networking programs related to export and global expansion centered around 19 regions nationwide, including Seoul.

We have also invited female ambassadors and female heads of chambers of commerce in Korea. We want to leave a good impression for women entrepreneurs entering overseas markets and create a starting point for that.

- It has been about two and a half years since you took office as president of the Korea Federation of Women Entrepreneurs. What project do you think has left the most impact on companies?

▲ The Future Women Entrepreneurs Development Project, launched for the first time last year, was successfully completed, and its scale has doubled this year. This project focuses on nurturing future women entrepreneurs by passing down the experience and know-how of senior women CEOs to the younger generation of female students. It started from the shared understanding that we must help younger women avoid repeating the many difficulties and trial-and-error that senior women CEOs have experienced.

Over the past year, we traveled nationwide conducting special lectures by women CEOs, visits to domestic women-owned companies, and practical startup mentoring. In October, we held a global business tour centered on Silicon Valley in the U.S., and in November, all participating students and women CEOs gathered for an integrated workshop.

I recently met female university students who initially aimed for employment but changed their minds to wanting to become women CEOs after listening to talks by female leaders. I believe Korean women can be born as global women if they have delicate yet grand dreams. It would be great if a female Steve Jobs emerged domestically as well.

- What are the realistic challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, and what do you think are the solutions?

▲ Although much has changed now, in our generation, most women entrepreneurs entered business out of necessity due to divorce, bereavement, or their husband’s unemployment rather than their own skills and vision. Perhaps because of this, many women-owned businesses in the past were concentrated in easily accessible, relatively low value-added sectors such as retail, food service, and real estate.

One way for women entrepreneurs to overcome these challenges is to shift their core business to high value-added industries by integrating new technologies, thereby increasing corporate value and competitiveness. Encouragingly, as women’s education levels rise, many talented women are emerging, challenging entrepreneurship with clear goals by leveraging their skills and abilities. Especially, technology-based startups in fields like Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are rapidly increasing. From 2016 to last year, the growth rate of technology startups among women (4.1%) was more than four times faster than that of men (1.0%). This sector is a core area of the 4th Industrial Revolution, and we expect women entrepreneurs to gradually stand out as world changers in the near future.

Another unavoidable issue is pregnancy, childcare, and childbirth. When I meet young women CEOs in their 20s and 30s and ask about difficulties, pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare challenges are invariably mentioned. It is very unfortunate that this has not changed much in 30 years. Although support measures for pregnant, childbirth, and childcare female workers are well established nowadays, women CEOs still fall into a blind spot. Most women-owned businesses are small SMEs where the CEO’s role is crucial. In such situations, women CEOs who must shoulder both business and family responsibilities often postpone pregnancy or return to work prematurely before fully recovering after childbirth. National-level attention and support are essential to create an environment where women CEOs can balance work and family life.

Lee Jeong-han, President of the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association, is walking in Maehun Citizen's Forest in Yangjae-dong, Seoul. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

- What policy do you consider most necessary for women entrepreneurs at this point?

▲ The Women’s Economic Research Institute, established by KFWE in 2019, is the only research institution in Korea dedicated to women entrepreneurs, building basic statistical data and conducting research to suggest policy directions for the growth and development of women-owned businesses. Other women-related research institutions mostly focus on women’s labor and human rights, so research related to women entrepreneurs is severely lacking. In fact, our institute is virtually the only one producing statistics and data on women entrepreneurs. However, the institute currently operates at a team level and faces many limitations and difficulties in conducting research and surveys related to women entrepreneurs.

Given that women-owned businesses account for over 40% of all companies and their role and importance in our economy and society are growing, active national support and budget expansion for the Women’s Economic Research Institute are necessary to enable diverse research and surveys for systematic and timely policy development to foster women entrepreneurs.

It would also be good to have dedicated R&D budgets for women-owned businesses. Women entrepreneurs tend to lose some points in technology evaluations, so providing additional points to compensate would be beneficial.

- Some argue that supporting women entrepreneurs constitutes reverse discrimination. What is your view?

▲ Supporting women entrepreneurs should not be seen as a mere privilege or reverse discrimination but as an essential choice for all of us. One of the best ways to address Korea’s pressing issues such as low growth, low birthrate, and job creation is fostering women entrepreneurs. According to research by the Bank of Korea, a 1% increase in women’s economic activity leads to a 0.3?0.4% increase in birthrate. The Women’s Economic Research Institute’s survey shows that the employment rate of female workers in women-owned businesses (72%) is more than 2.3 times that of male-owned businesses (31%). Ultimately, the more women-owned businesses grow and expand, the more good jobs for women will increase, activating women’s economic participation. This creates a virtuous cycle that revitalizes our economy and society by solving problems like low growth and low birthrate.

- Among the current issues facing SMEs this year is the flexibilization of the 52-hour workweek system. What are your thoughts on this?

▲ Large and medium-sized companies can comply with the 52-hour workweek. However, for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees and sales of 10 to 20 billion KRW, all orders are custom-made. They must meet delivery deadlines, and if they say, "Employees must work only 52 hours a week, so we cannot meet the schedule," customers will not place orders. Foreign workers will leave if they are not allowed to work on weekends because their pay would be lower. There are times when work is very urgent for 5 to 6 months. In such cases, labor and management should negotiate and agree to allow some degree of flexible working hours.

About Lee Jeong-han, president of the Korea Federation of Women Entrepreneurs...

▲ Born in 1961 in Asan, Chungnam ▲ Onyang Girls' High School ▲ Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Hanyang University ▲ Master's degree from Hanyang University Graduate School of Industrial Management and Design ▲ CEO of BY Industry ▲ Chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurs Comprehensive Support Center ▲ Member of the Win-Win Growth Committee ▲ Member of the Win-Win Mediation Committee ▲ Member of the Private Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations ▲ Non-executive Director of Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation ▲ Director of Siheung City 1% Welfare Foundation