During the past few decades, the Korean economy has grown at a rapid pace by means of government-led policy focusing on chaebol, or conglomerates. With the economic growth model revealing its own limitations, the Park Geun-hye administration is trying to foster the growth of venture firms and startu

It has been found that the number of Korean companies in the local software market with at least 30 billion won (US$28 million) in sales has surged since 2009. Software industry insiders are considering that the sales of mid-sized software development companies have soared with the importance of the

For domestic small and mid-size enterprises dreaming of globalization, funds and lack of a network are two of the largest difficulties they face. For these enterprises, lack of information on local enterprises and market, as well as market value evaluations, can be burdensome.The Korea Finance Corpo

In September, the production index for small and mid-sized manufacturers hit an eight month low. According to a November 5 report by the IBK Economic Research Institute, the production index for 3070 small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector was 123.6 in September, a downward

There is growing controversy over the fact that the Korean subsidiary of a global duty-free retailer won a bid for duty-free shop operation at Gimhae International Airport. Initially, the government changed the Korean Customs Act to promote the growth of SMEs, so it excluded conglomerates from biddi

With digital content increasing importance in the framework of the creative economy, interest is picking up in the Contents Korea Lab, which is expected to be a catalyst for creative activities and start-ups in the digital content industry. The Contents Korea Lab can be defined as a set of incubatin

Cooperation between government ministries and IT companies is on the rise for developing the cultural content industry. It is considered mandatory for the government and enterprises to work together to make a fair cultural content distribution environment and quality content. On October 7, the Minis

Over 100 small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Korea are likely to undergo restructuring with the recession amid the consecutive defaults of affiliates of conglomerates this year, such as STX Group and Tong Yang Group, the largest number since the peak of the financial crisis in 2010. Last year,

On September 16, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) held an opening ceremony for the Born Global Startups project at the Future Global Business Start-up Support Center in Sangam-dong, Seoul. The twenty selected global startup teams, three accelerators (startup incubation centers

Mid-size enterprises with annual sales under US$200 billion can now partially participate in the competitive market among small and mid-size businesses. Also, about 160 additional mid-size enterprises are now eligible to receive benefits under the “Research & Development Investment Tax Deduction,” s

President Park Geun-hye visited Hansae Vietnam on September 10. Located in Ho Chi Minh City, Hansae Vietnam is an overseas subsidiary established in 2001 by Hansae Fashion Worldwide, the largest clothes exporter in Korea. A total of 18,500 employees are working for it now, and only 100 of them are K

The government is working on comprehensive measures to cope with international patent disputes as non-practicing entities (NPEs) are stepping up their offensive against Korean firms. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the numbe

With the establishment of Venture Capital (VC), chosen as the first business operator of the Korea Venture Investment’s Fund of Funds, an additional 300 billion won in investment will go out to starting and mid-sized businesses in the global content, independent movie production, and other industrie

Korea has been classified as one of the most entrepreneur-friendly countries among G20 members. However, it has ranked as low as 14th when it comes to support measures for entrepreneurs. According to the entrepreneurship survey report published on August 29 by Ernst & Young, Korea topped the list al

About US$200 million (220 billion won) of foreign venture capital from Silicon Valley in the US will be invested in promising domestic venture businesses. This is the largest amount to ever be directly invested in domestic companies from overseas.When the fund investment is completed, the money will

Hando (CEO Kim Jeong-bae), a small-sized auto parts manufacturer in Korea, signed a 10-year, US$50 million-worth contract with ThyssenKrupp Presta (TKP) on August 27 to make inroads into the European car market. The contract is the product of 3 years worth of negotiations.Located in Cheonan City, So

Yigal Ehrlich, CEO of YOZMA Group and founder of the venture business support program YOZMA Funds, said, “Korea should focus on the bio and medical fields for small and medium sized venture businesses.” Ehrlich is from startup-rich Israel, a place where many small ventures are successful.On August 2

Parts makers struck by the stagnation in the premium mobile phone markets are overcoming this crisis by expanding their materials business.Mobile phone materials receive less pressure to lower prices and have a higher barrier to entry in the short term, leading to stable profits. More parts makers a

The Korean government is raising a fund of 100 billion won for investment in intellectual property such as patent rights, trademark rights, and copyrights, in an effort to boost creative economic activities. New preferred surety programs are being put into practice for the intellectual property indu

It has been found that the number of venture firms with sales of at least 100 billion won exceeded 400 last year in Korea. This is a six-fold increase compared to eight years ago, when such statistics began to be compiled.At the same time, no less than 54 venture companies broke the 100 billion won