Minister Lee So-young conducts field visits to Korean manufacturing sites

Lee So-young, the Minister of SMEs and Startups, has initiated a series of field visits to various industrial sites to assess the competitiveness of Korean industries and listen to business grievances.

During a visit to the Kolmar Korea Sejong plant, the Minister inspected manufacturing facilities to review K-beauty production capabilities. The visit highlighted the role of ODM companies in supporting the growth of small and medium-sized indie cosmetic brands, which have contributed to record-breaking export figures.

In a separate two-day tour of the Chungcheong region, Minister Lee visited LK Chem in Cheonan to inspect semiconductor material production and attended a startup ecosystem forum at KAIST in Daejeon. During these sessions, the Minister engaged directly with entrepreneurs regarding challenges such as investment shortages, regulatory hurdles for facility expansion, and the need for specialized legal and human resource support. Lee stated that the insights gathered from these field visits would be integrated into future policy development.