The government has expressed its commitment to reform unnecessary or inefficient regulations in advanced sectors, while the venture industry emphasizes the importance of speed.
Lee So-young, the nominee for Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, spoke to reporters on September 10 after a meeting with venture and startup representatives at the Venture Business Association in Guro, Seoul. She stated, "In the venture and startup sector, regulatory innovation that enables new business challenges and attempts is the most crucial aspect, beyond simply supporting and protecting them." She noted that many regulations hindering business activities fall under the jurisdiction of other ministries and pledged to actively pursue inter-ministerial regulatory coordination.
Lee, who was nominated as the Minister of SMEs and Startups on August 31, previously emphasized on her first day at work that she would work to alleviate unreasonable regulations with the mindset of a regulatory reform minister.
Earlier, President Lee Jae-myung highlighted the need for a shift from a "positive" regulatory approach, which generally prohibits anything not explicitly allowed, to a "negative" regulatory framework that allows actions unless explicitly banned, particularly for advanced industries. This statement was made during the first plenary meeting of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee held at the Blue House on April 15.
President Lee remarked, "When officials say, 'Just do this,' the private sector responds, 'But we need to do this.' Then, we lose competitiveness in the process of changing regulations and obtaining permits. There is a lot of anxiety about 'What if something goes wrong?' But we must trust each other. However, actions must be swift. If problems arise, we should immediately impose bans or controls."
Regulations that fail to keep pace with technological advancements have long hindered startups. The startup PetNow received the CES Innovation Award in 2022 for its technology that uses nose patterns to locate lost pets, making it the only domestic startup to win the top innovation award that year.
However, in South Korea, animal registration is only possible through the insertion of microchips, and biometric recognition technologies like those used by PetNow are not permitted, leading to significant operational challenges.
Kim Kwon-sik, a researcher at the Korea Institute of SMEs and Startups, stated, "Negative regulations are necessary in new technology fields. We need to establish more channels that can quickly resolve the difficulties startups face regarding regulatory improvements. Speed is crucial to ensure that new ideas do not get stifled as soon as they emerge."
Lee So-young, the nominee for Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, spoke to reporters on September 10 after a meeting with venture and startup representatives at the Venture Business Association in Guro, Seoul. She stated, "In the venture and startup sector, regulatory innovation that enables new business challenges and attempts is the most crucial aspect, beyond simply supporting and protecting them." She noted that many regulations hindering business activities fall under the jurisdiction of other ministries and pledged to actively pursue inter-ministerial regulatory coordination.
Lee, who was nominated as the Minister of SMEs and Startups on August 31, previously emphasized on her first day at work that she would work to alleviate unreasonable regulations with the mindset of a regulatory reform minister.
Earlier, President Lee Jae-myung highlighted the need for a shift from a "positive" regulatory approach, which generally prohibits anything not explicitly allowed, to a "negative" regulatory framework that allows actions unless explicitly banned, particularly for advanced industries. This statement was made during the first plenary meeting of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee held at the Blue House on April 15.
President Lee remarked, "When officials say, 'Just do this,' the private sector responds, 'But we need to do this.' Then, we lose competitiveness in the process of changing regulations and obtaining permits. There is a lot of anxiety about 'What if something goes wrong?' But we must trust each other. However, actions must be swift. If problems arise, we should immediately impose bans or controls."
Regulations that fail to keep pace with technological advancements have long hindered startups. The startup PetNow received the CES Innovation Award in 2022 for its technology that uses nose patterns to locate lost pets, making it the only domestic startup to win the top innovation award that year.
However, in South Korea, animal registration is only possible through the insertion of microchips, and biometric recognition technologies like those used by PetNow are not permitted, leading to significant operational challenges.
Kim Kwon-sik, a researcher at the Korea Institute of SMEs and Startups, stated, "Negative regulations are necessary in new technology fields. We need to establish more channels that can quickly resolve the difficulties startups face regarding regulatory improvements. Speed is crucial to ensure that new ideas do not get stifled as soon as they emerge."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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