JEJU — The 2026 SME Leaders Forum, hosted by the Korea Federation of SMEs on Jeju Special Self-Governing Province for four days from the 20th, closed on the 23rd.
The forum, held for the 19th time this year, carried the theme "With SMEs, Toward Becoming a Top Three AI Power." About 400 small and medium-sized business owners from industry groups and regions across the country attended to explore innovation and growth strategies for SMEs in the artificial intelligence era.
The event opened with video congratulatory remarks from National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik and Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, followed by lectures from experts across various fields. Speakers included novelist Kim Hong-shin; Park Yong-woo, head of the obesity clinic at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital; North Chungcheong Province Governor Shin Yong-han; docent Jung Woo-cheol; priest Hwang Chang-yeon; Lee Jin-woo, vice president of Sam Pro TV; physiognomist Park Sung-joon; and Kim Hyung-tae, CEO of TBWA.
A policy debate titled "SME Innovation in the Physical AI Era," held during the forum, focused on how SMEs can use AI and strengthen their competitiveness. Experts from government, industry and academia took part, including Park Young-sun, chair of the Strategic Economy Advisory Group at the Ministry of Finance and Economy; Cho Ju-hyun, president of the Korea Institute for Small Business Studies; and Kim Jun-ha, dean of the AI Policy and Strategy Graduate School at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST). They stressed the need for support policies tailored to each company's stage of AI adoption.
"The Leaders Forum, which began in 2007, has established itself as a premier forum representing the SME sector," Korea Federation of SMEs Chairman Kim Ki-mun said. "I hope this forum has given SMEs that recognize the need for AI but struggle because they do not know how to adopt it a chance to prepare for the future."