KOSME Selects Four 'KOSME Employees of the Year'

AX Category Added This Year

The Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) announced on November 12 that it had held the 8th KOSME Employee of the Year Awards at its headquarters in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, on November 11, selecting four employees who led innovation at the agency.

This year, the agency added innovation in AI transformation (AX) to the existing categories of management innovation, business innovation, and field innovation. Of the 75 innovation cases submitted across the four categories, 14 were selected for the final round after document and presentation evaluations. In the final round, scores from the “KOSME Field Evaluation Panel” were combined with preliminary scores from the “Public Participation Panel,” made up of members of the general public and small and medium-sized business owners. One top scorer in each category was selected, for a total of four KOSME Employees of the Year.

Award recipients pose for a commemorative photo at the 2026 KOSME Employee Selection Contest, held at the headquarters of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency on the 11th. Korea SMEs and Startups Agency

In the management innovation category, Kim Seokgyu, a team leader in the ICT Operations Office, was selected for improving the productivity of policy financing support work. In the business innovation category, Yoo Taeyang, a department head at the Human Resources Support Office, was selected for planning a program to develop smart manufacturing specialists. In the field innovation category, Lim Bokgyu, a team leader at the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency Training Institute, was selected for establishing a manufacturing AI training center tailored to the production sites of small and medium-sized enterprises. In the AX innovation category, Baek Jihun, a section chief at the Jeonbuk West Branch, was selected for improving field evaluations for policy financing by using AI.

Kang Seokjin, chairman of KOSME, said, “The KOSME Employees of the Year are the leading innovators who have driven change at the agency with an unrelenting spirit of challenge. We will continue to support employees in turning their ideas into policy outcomes and take the lead in fostering the growth of small and medium-sized venture companies and innovating public services in ways that people can feel.”

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