Mr. Lee Seong-do, a graduate of the Master of Entrepreneurship program at Kookmin University’s Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Venture (Dean Lee Woo Jin), was selected as an outstanding dedicated project manager for the “2026 Hope Return Package Business Revival Support Project” conducted by the Korean Standards Association and received the Grand Prize on October 21. This is his second award, following the Excellence Award he received last December at the “2025 Research Paper Contest for the Small Business Sector,” jointly hosted by the Korea Small Business and Market Promotion Corporation and the Korean Association of Policy Studies.
 
The Hope Return Package is a program run by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Small Business and Market Service to support the re-startup and re-employment of small business owners who have closed their businesses or are about to do so. Within this framework, the Business Revival Support Program provides small business owners with commercialization funding and a dedicated project manager (PM) to assist them from business plan development through implementation. Mr. Lee was recognized for his contributions in supporting small business owners’ business revival processes while serving as a dedicated PM.
 
Previously, last year, Ms. Lee won the Excellence Award (Korea Policy Studies Association President’s Award) at a research paper contest in the small business sector for her study titled “An Empirical Study on the Impact of Interaction Between Small Business Owners and Consultants on Consulting Satisfaction and Intention to Continue Using the Service.” The study empirically analyzed how a consultant’s expertise, communication style, and the level of participation by small business owners affect consulting satisfaction and the intention to continue using the service; it was selected as one of five winning entries out of a total of 39 submissions.

Lee shared his thoughts, saying, “I turned the concerns I observed in the field of small business consulting into a research project during graduate school, and by applying those findings back to the field, I was able to achieve results together with small business owners who were rebuilding their businesses.”
 
Since its opening in 2014, Kookmin University’s Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Venture Business has operated an educational program that links the practical experience of field experts—such as entrepreneurs, consultants, and investors—with academic research. In particular, it supports current students and alumni active in various fields, including entrepreneurship, management consulting, and small business support, so they can generate research outcomes based on their field experience.
 
Lee Woo Jin, Dean of the Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Venture Business, stated, “Mr. Lee Seong-do’s case exemplifies how the virtuous cycle of research and practice that our graduate school strives for has led to tangible results.” He added, “Going forward, we will strengthen both our graduate school curriculum and the research support provided by the AI Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research Center (AEIC) to ensure that real-world problems are studied academically and that the findings are applied back to the field.”