Oh Se-hoon "Korea Must Move Toward a Scale-up Economy... Deregulation Is Important"

Proposing Active Adoption of Negative Regulation
Calls for Shortening Regulatory Sandbox Review Period

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon asserted, "To revive the economy, we ultimately need to create an environment where businesses can thrive." He reiterated the importance of 'deregulation,' which he had emphasized since his New Year's address.

On the 27th, Mayor Oh wrote on Facebook, "South Korea must now move beyond a startup-centered economy to a scale-up economy."

On the 13th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended and spoke at the Investment and Affiliated Institutions Deregulation Report Meeting held at the Seoul City Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul. 2025.2.13 Photo by Jo Yong-jun

He pointed out the need for dynamism in Korea's industrial ecosystem. Mayor Oh said, "Semiconductors, automobiles, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, and steel, which were the main industries 20 to 30 years ago, still dominate the Korean economy. Moving forward, we must foster new industries such as advanced sectors like AI, bio, fintech, and robotics, as well as creative industries like XR, webtoons, animation, and e-sports. To achieve this, we need to create an environment where companies can innovate freely."

He added, "One-person creative enterprises should grow into small businesses, small businesses into medium-sized companies, medium-sized companies into mid-sized enterprises, and eventually into unicorn and decacorn companies. To this end, the government must remove obstacles that hinder fair trade order and faithfully fulfill its role as a monitor and coordinator of a free competitive market."

Mayor Oh then stated, "Therefore, deregulation is the most critical issue." He noted, "On-site, the 'regulate first, implement later' approach is still applied, and bureaucratic regulations are also problematic. To lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, reducing administrative regulations must be the starting point of deregulation."

He also criticized 'positive' regulations, saying, "We need to more actively introduce and spread the negative regulation approach. We must quickly achieve international standardization of regulations by adopting a national system of industry-specific regulatory standards demanded by the venture industry."

Addressing the government, Mayor Oh urged, "The current regulatory sandbox fast-track process, which takes up to 90 days from application to consideration, should be shortened to 30 days from application to review. A corporate demonstration exemption system, where companies can be exempted from regulations if they prove the safety of new technologies themselves, should also be promptly introduced."

Furthermore, he emphasized that the 'zero tolerance principle' must be applied to unfair trade practices using monopolistic market positions to establish a fair market trading order.

Mayor Oh concluded, "When the government creates a business-friendly environment and companies can grow freely, South Korea's economy can survive and develop in the global new industry competition. Now, we must overcome the limitations of 1% growth."