SMEs ministry hosts university startup festival in Busan

The SMEs ministry held the 2026 University Startup Festival at Pusan National University on Wednesday and Thursday, gathering about 500 students and officials to link university education with practical startup support. This marked the third iteration of the festival, following previous gatherings at Chonbuk and Hannam universities.

During the opening ceremony, Vice Minister Noh Yong-seok joined leaders from 11 startup-focused universities to declare a vision for cultivating these institutions as regional hubs for youth entrepreneurship. The declaration emphasized supporting student preparation and local settlement while focusing resources on artificial intelligence and deep-tech sectors tailored to young founders.

A talk concert featured panels of veteran entrepreneurs and venture capital experts discussing improvements to government policies. Participants included Shin Seong-gyu, vice president of Rebellion, and Kim Hyun-gyu, a senior executive at CJ Investment.

The festival also hosted a hackathon where 22 university teams competed in missions ranging from business model refinement to global expansion strategies. Five winning teams will share prize money totaling 24 million won, while all participants gain priority selection for future funding rounds and exemptions from written evaluations in next year's university recruitment process.

"We will foster startup-focused universities as bases for regional youth entrepreneurship so that universities can become a starting point for young people to experience, connect, and grow in startups," Noh said. "We will faithfully reflect the voices of university students and youths heard at today's festival in youth startup policies."