Startup in spotlight for young graduates

Young college graduates facing a tight job market in Korea are staking it all on entrepreneurial start-ups, despite the greater job security offered by salaried and government employment.

Recent government statistics showed that 28.7 percent of young job seekers under 29 would ideally like to work at a government organization, followed by large private companies and state enterprises at 21.6 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively.

But enterprising young people such as Kim Young-min are following an uncertain course that many people avoid for its high risk of failure.

The 31-year-old entrepreneur noticed some changes taking place in the mobile industry during his last semester at college. Attracted by the irresistible opportunity he saw, he decided to start a company.

FriendsCube, co-founded with three other friends, is to launch a mobile application soon that will help people build and expand networks of people easily. 

“I have learned a lot by doing a variety of work from planning, developing to managing. Sometimes I had conflicts with my co-workers, but we grow by understanding each other through conflict and moving together toward the same goal,” Kim said.

He said he started a company because he was attracted to the freedom of being able to chart his own course.

A recent survey of 574 unemployed college students found 77.9 percent were unemployed because they could not find the job they would like to do. Only 19.3 percent cited a lack of jobs as the reason. The Hyundai Research Institute, a private think tank that conducted the survey, concluded that the heart of the problem lies in the difference between the job market reality and the job expectations of the college educated.

The gap between reality and expectations widens when trying to land an enviable top-tier job. In reality, 87.7 percent end up in small and mid-sized companies according to recent data.

Park Hee-youl is a 30-year-old entrepreneur, whose childhood dream was making a fortune through his own business.

He started with a petty project in a design class during his senior year in college, and developed it into a marketable product, MOMOT, which is a do-it-yourself paper toy.

His company exports the product to Europe. Some of the more than 10 clients it does business with include Nike, MCM and two famous local K-pop entertainment agencies, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment.

The government is encouraging young people to start their own businesses in a bid to revive entrepreneurship and the economy.

The Education Ministry plans to invest 160 billion won ($140 million) in January in establishing entrepreneurship centers at 50 colleges across the country.

The centers will offer entrepreneurship education to students and support small groups of them in starting businesses.

The Seoul Business Agency funded by the Seoul Metropolitan Government rents free offices to aspiring entrepreneurs in their 20s and 30s, and also assists them with funds. Legal and patent experts arranged by the agency also provide the future business people with mentoring and one-on-one consulting services for a year.

“Currently, three centers in Seoul incubate 1,100 venture startups. We receive applications every year from aspiring young entrepreneurs who have brilliant ideas but struggle to figure out how to start a business,” said Kim Jae-hyoung of the SBA.

Park Soo-wang, 26, is one well-known entrepreneur who received support from the agency to launch “I Love Campus,” one of the most popular mobile applications, which was downloaded by more than 500,000 people.

“I think a lot of opportunities are up for grabs for young people who will start their own business. You can seize an opportunity if you look for it,” said Park.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)