[2026 National Assembly Audit] Private Policy Fund Consultants on the Rise... Lee Soyoung: "I'll Personally Review the Application System"

“There have also been shortcomings in enforcement and administrative guidance”

Lee Soyoung, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said she would personally review the policy fund application system in response to concerns that small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners seeking policy funds are turning to private consulting firms that appear to be government agencies.

During the National Assembly’s audit of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups by the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee on October 7, Minister Lee viewed several private policy fund consulting websites presented by Baek Hye-ryeon of the Democratic Party of Korea and said, “They seem to look like government websites because they have government logos.”

Assemblywoman Baek pointed out that the firms use names similar to those of government agencies, such as “SME Policy Fund Support Center,” as well as the ministry’s logo, and that some websites feature claims such as “99% policy fund success rate.” She said that although policy fund applications can be made for free through public institutions, private firms operate websites that look like government agencies and offer consulting services.

Lee Soyoung, Minister of SMEs and Startups, answers questions during the National Assembly’s Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee’s audit of her ministry on the 7th. Yonhap News

Assemblywoman Baek also raised concerns about personal information leaks. She explained that some websites require users to enter a company name, business registration number, name, mobile phone number, previous year’s sales, industry, business address, and whether the premises are owned or rented to check their policy fund limit. She alleged that this information is traded for a set amount per transaction on separate business-to-business (B2B) platforms.

“Fundamentally, some people may rely on third parties because the system is complicated or not easy to access,” Minister Lee said. “It also seems that there have been shortcomings in enforcement and administrative guidance in this area.”

Assemblywoman Baek said that the complexity of application procedures and document preparation was the main reason applicants were exposed to policy fund brokers, and also raised concerns about the user-friendliness of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ integrated system. Minister Lee responded, “I heard that the login error on the integrated service was fixed on October 1, but I’ll check again.” In response to Assemblywoman Baek’s request that she compare the system directly with private websites, Minister Lee said, “I’ll apply myself tomorrow.”

Regarding reports related to policy funds, Minister Lee said, “We received about 630 reports through the end of August this year, and we also operate a system that offers rewards for reports.” She added, “We cannot take action against conduct that is not clearly illegal because there are no grounds to do so.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.