Minister Han Seong-sook Targets 'Global Top 4 Venture Powerhouse' with Annual ₩1 Trillion Fund

Minister Han Sung-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups presented a vision to elevate Korea to one of the world's top four venture powerhouses at the '2025 Global Venture Investment Summit in APEC'. At this summit, held in Jeju as the largest ever, Minister Han emphasized that APEC is a global innovation hub, accounting for over 70% of global venture investment, and stated that Korea is emerging as an innovation hub in Asia, going beyond being a high-tech powerhouse. Korean startups have achieved remarkable results in the global market, including winning 7 CES Best Innovation Awards, Coupang and Webtoon's NASDAQ listings, and attracting investment from global entities such as Rebellion (Aramco investment) and LD Carbon (Toyota investment). Korea's venture investment market reached $9 billion in 2024, ranking 5th globally, showing a recent growth rate of 10% despite global stagnation. Venture funds also demonstrated robust resilience, with an average annual return rate of 11% (the top 30% achieving 31%). The government plans to achieve the goal of becoming one of the "global top four venture powerhouses" by promoting the inflow of private capital (pension funds, corporations, banks, individuals) and expanding government seed funding. In particular, discussions will commence to enable retirement pensions to participate in venture investment, and the globalization of Korean venture investment will be actively pursued. Specifically, master funds will be established in global financial hubs such as Singapore to attract foreign capital, and global funds exceeding 1 trillion won will be created annually to support domestic investments by foreign VCs. Furthermore, a foreign exchange center dedicated to global venture investment will open in the second half of this year to alleviate difficulties for overseas investors. Through market trend lectures by BlackRock and Preqin, a panel discussion with APEC region VCs/LPs, and IR presentations by leading Korean companies like Rebellion and Musinsa, a venue for practical investment cooperation was established.