Minister Lee Soyoung Kicks Off 'Into the Field for Two Days and One Night' Tour in Chungcheong, Announces Jump-up Revamp

First regional field visit since taking office... Expanding engagement across regions
Three-stage tailored support system: Jump-up 100, 500 and 1,000
Foster 1,500 national champion growth companies by 2030

Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Soyoung has begun a series of visits to regions across the country under the “Into the Field for Two Days and One Night” program, aimed at engaging with people on the ground. Her first stop is the Chungcheong region. Starting in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, she plans to visit Daejeon, Cheongju and Sejong to hear directly from small and venture businesses and small business owners. At her first stop, she also announced plans to revamp next year’s “Jump-up Program,” which supports the scaling up of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on October 15 that Lee had begun a two-day, one-night tour of the Chungcheong region with a visit to a small and medium-sized enterprise specializing in semiconductor materials, components and equipment in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. The trip is Lee’s first regional field visit since taking office and the first stop on the “Into the Field for Two Days and One Night” program. The program was designed to assess the industrial characteristics and policy needs of each region by staying in areas across the country and to incorporate feedback from the field into policy. The ministry plans to continue its visits to regions across the country, starting with the Chungcheong region.

The first stop was LK Chem, a company specializing in materials for next-generation semiconductor processes and a participant in the Jump-up Program. Lee toured LK Chem’s semiconductor deposition materials manufacturing process before attending a field meeting hosted by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency. Around 10 people attended, including Lee, government officials such as the Director General for Regional Business Policy and the head of the Chungnam Regional Office of SMEs and Startups, representatives from five companies participating in the first and second cohorts of the Jump-up Program, including LK Chem, and representatives from two strategic supporter organizations, including Samjong KPMG and BCG.

At the meeting, the ministry announced an enhanced revamp of the “2027 Jump-up Program.” The existing single-track program will be replaced with a three-stage tailored support system based on annual revenue: ▲Jump-up 100 (revenue of at least KRW 10 billion; establishing a sound business foundation) ▲Jump-up 500 (revenue of at least KRW 50 billion; entering new businesses and markets) and ▲Jump-up 1000 (revenue of at least KRW 100 billion; global expansion).

Through the revamp, the ministry plans to strengthen support for small and venture businesses in advanced technology fields such as semiconductors and physical artificial intelligence (AI), and foster 1,500 national champion growth companies by 2030. It also plans to substantially expand coordinated policies in five key areas - research and development (R&D), AI transformation (AX), securing top talent, financial support and regulatory improvement - to lower barriers to business growth.

LK Chem and KL Cube, participants in the first cohort, then presented successful scaling-up cases, and participating companies raised regulatory issues and other difficulties they have encountered in the course of their growth. The ministry also provided an update on the participation of six semiconductor-sector companies in the Jump-up Program at SEMICON West 2026, a semiconductor exhibition being held in San Francisco.

“Large-scale investments in the three mega-projects being prioritized at the national level must lead to increased revenue for capable advanced small and medium-sized enterprises and the creation of quality local jobs,” Lee said. “We will strengthen the growth ladder so that small and medium-sized enterprises, which serve as the backbone of regional growth engines, can become midsize companies.”

After wrapping up her schedule in Cheonan on the morning of October 15, Lee will travel to Daejeon in the afternoon to discuss plans to develop the city as a startup hub and ways to boost regional startup activity. On October 16, she is scheduled to visit the Chungbuk Advanced Regenerative Bio Global Innovation Regulatory Free Zone in Osong, Cheongju; a cosmetics company in Sejong; and the Small Business Restart Support Center in Ochang, Cheongju.

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