In the rapidly deteriorating domestic and external economic conditions with the mutual tariffs of the Trump administration, 82.7% of medium-sized enterprises identified "overcoming economic contraction" as the top policy agenda for the new government. The Bank of Korea announced on the 5th that this year's first quarter real GDP growth rate is -0.2%, the lowest among G20 countries.
The Korea Federation of Medium Enterprises stated on the 19th, based on the results of its "survey on the opinions of the medium-sized enterprise sector regarding the policy direction of the new government," that this reflects concerns about increasing economic uncertainty due to prolonged export stagnation, sluggish domestic demand, and a deteriorating trade environment.
The Korea Federation of Medium Enterprises noted, "According to the Bank of Korea analysis, the probability of economic contraction in our country has increased threefold from an average of 4.6% in 2014 to 13.8% in 2024," and "It is essential to establish a comprehensive policy implementation system to address current issues such as the U.S. reciprocal tariff policy, as well as long-term challenges that undermine economic dynamism, including a declining working-age population due to low birth rates and aging, social division, and regional extinction."
This survey was conducted from May 27 to June 5, targeting 150 medium-sized enterprises.
Fifty-seven point three percent of medium-sized enterprises identified "discovering new growth engines" as the top priority policy agenda for the new government in the economy and industrial sectors. "Restoring livelihoods (55.3%)", "regulatory reform (35.3%)", "strengthening negotiation power in trade (30.7%)", and "labor market reform (21.3%)" followed.
The medium-sized enterprise sector responded that the top priority tasks by institutional sector are "merging and simplifying overlapping regulations (72.0%)" in the regulatory reform sector, "expanding R&D and investment support (67.3%)" in the new growth engine sector, "flexibilizing the 52-hour workweek system (66.0%)" in the employment and labor sector, "strengthening export financing support (52.0%)" in the trade environment sector, and "price stabilization (82.7%)" in the livelihood economy sector.
Lee Ho-joon, the executive vice president of the Korea Federation of Medium Enterprises, said, "The shortcut to realizing the new government's vision of technology-driven growth, growth for all, and fair growth is to maximize the growth potential of corporations that have reached their limits," and added, "It is necessary to actively incorporate the specific needs of medium-sized enterprises in the field for discovering new growth engines into government policies, opening a new growth path for "a real Republic of Korea" based on unparalleled technological competitiveness."