Lee touts importance of 'small but strong' businesses at roundtable

President Lee Jae Myung attended a roundtable of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Gyeonggi, where he and business owners discussed the struggles they face and what the goverment can do to help.

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a meeting with small- and medium-sized businesses at the Saesol Diamond headquarters in Danwon District in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on Sept. 3. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday said the most important issue facing the country is "making a living," which he said hinges on whether companies can continue to grow and thrive.

“What matters most is whether people can make a living, and the core of that is ensuring that businesses continue to grow and develop,” Lee said at a roundtable with small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms in Ansan, Gyeonggi.

“We need strong, capable manufacturers to keep growing,” he added at the event held at Sesol Diamond, a company that first localized key components used to flatten wafers in semiconductor processing.

Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung described Sesol as “a top-tier 'small-but-strong' company that ranks No. 1 globally in market share for its advanced technologies," tapping a term used to refer to the robust economic presence of midsize companies.

Before the roundtable, Lee toured the factory and reflected on his own past experience.

“Walking around the site briefly brought back memories,” he said. “The plating and sandpapering processes have become quite modernized, but they still felt familiar.”

Lee also emphasized that the government's key policy goal is to create opportunities through sustainable growth.

“Through continued growth, we can create opportunities for people to design better lives,” he said. “Manufacturing is especially important when it comes to jobs for our people.”

During the meeting, small and midsize business owners voiced concerns about the rapid rise of Chinese manufacturing and called for greater government support.

“China’s robot and AI industries are growing rapidly, and its manufacturing competitiveness is rising fast,” said Maeng Joo-ho, CEO of Sesol Diamond. “To stay competitive, we need tax benefits for mergers, stronger government support or large-scale investment.”

President Lee Jae Myung listens to a presentation on company products by Lee Sang-gu, CEO of iBL Photonics, during a meeting with small- and medium-sized businesses at the Saesol Diamond headquarters in Danwon District in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on Sept. 3. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Cho Moon-soo, CEO of Korea Carbon, which supplies materials for the defense and aviation industries, said government orders would help secure a foothold in the global market.

“No matter how well we develop our products, it’s meaningless without performance,” said Cho. “If the government placed an order for liquefied natural gas [LNG] carriers, that would go a long way in helping us expand our global market share.”

In response, President Lee directed Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan to follow up.

“Please look into having Korea Gas Corp. take the lead in placing orders for LNG carriers for testing,” he said.

He also told SME Minister Han Seong-sook to consider creating investment funds to help commercialize small business technologies.

Lee concluded the meeting by stressing the need for a “fair ecosystem” between large conglomerates and smaller firms.

“When companies discover new ideas, succeed in research and development, break into new markets and innovate in management to grow larger, that is how a country develops,” said Lee. “In that process, I hope we can build a fair ecosystem where the powerful and the weak, the major players and the smaller ones, can all thrive without anyone being treated unfairly.”

Warning that issues arise when business practices become violent or excessively selfish, Lee added, “It’s the government's role to prevent that. We’ll do everything we can to ensure everyone has the opportunity to grow.”

Of the 12 small-but-strong companies that attended the roundtable, eight were based outside the greater metropolitan area.

“Many of you came from outside the capital,” said Lee. “As costs associated with concentration in the capital area rise, business operations are increasingly affected. It may not be advantageous to operate outside Seoul, but we’ll do our best to ensure that it at least doesn’t feel unfair.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY OH HYUN-SEOK [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]