[SBA x IT Donga Joint Planning] The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Business Agency (SBA) have established startup hubs (centers) in Chang-dong, Seongsu, and Dongjak, Seoul. They support and nurture startups through stage-specific programs from initial startup to growth phase. Promising startups with high growth potential that have shown remarkable activities by 2025 are introduced.

For Jeong Bo-yeon, CEO of Pong Co., Ltd., it is the second act of life. CEO Jeong began his social life in non-profit private organizations and civic groups and also served as a high-ranking official at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. However, due to colon cancer that metastasized to the liver in his early 40s, he was diagnosed with a survival rate of only 5-7% for more than five years at the time. He stopped everything and spent three years battling the disease, leading him to think that the tension and anxiety throughout his life might have been the root of all problems.


Fortunately, CEO Jeong overcame cancer with the dream of contributing to reducing tension and anxiety for everyone and returned to society. Now, he has opened a new second act of life by founding 'Pong Co., Ltd.,' a company specializing in AI-based personalized psychological counseling. Having tried to change the world with values in the first act, he aims to change the world with products and services in the second act, meeting him at the Seoul Startup Hub Chang-dong of the Seoul Business Agency (SBA).

“Startup to Change the World with AI that Empathizes with Emotions in Psychological Counseling”

Pong Co., Ltd. was established in December 2022 and is soon entering its third year. CEO Jeong stated, “Initially, I considered a foundation, but with the second act of life, I developed the will to change the world with products and services. The company name is a single-letter abbreviation of 'hug' in Korean, and some ask if it means diving into life. Both interpretations are correct,” he began the conversation.


Pong's business areas are mental health and mind wellness. CEO Jeong explained, “Mental health refers to the field of mental health that receives medical insurance benefits and applies medical devices, while mind wellness includes areas such as meditation and psychological counseling. Although the exact market size is not calculated, the mind wellness market is larger.”

He continued, “In terms of approach, it is further divided into deep touch and deep tech. Deep touch involves direct face-to-face psychological counseling or tension relief for specific targets such as reclusive youth or youth preparing for independence, which is the main business model. Deep tech involves developing technology to heal the human mind using AI. In June, we launched an AI-based counseling service called Mungkul and plan to release a personalized AI that recognizes emotions, Companion AI, by the end of this year.”

AI Understanding Emotions Does Not Exist, but Emotion Recognition is Possible···Approaching with Mungkul AI

While deep touch is the foundation of the business, deep tech expands its possibilities. CEO Jeong stated, “The basis of counseling is face-to-face, but services like Mind Cafe, which offer non-face-to-face counseling via apps, have become mainstream. However, most non-face-to-face counseling involves direct conversation with a counselor, not AI. To create counseling AI, it is necessary to learn counseling content, which requires the client's consent. Therefore, AI based on cognitive behavioral therapy exists, but no AI autonomously counseling based on LLM has been developed.”


Instead of using counseling content for AI learning, Pong chose to collaborate with the Yonsei University Center for Artificial Emotional Intelligence to build a new concept of AI. CEO Jeong explained, “Together with Professor Kwon Soo-young, who leads the Yonsei University Center for Artificial Emotional Intelligence, we are building a structured AI. It is an AI that has learned the decision-making of counselors, such as clarification, empathy, and insight. Creating such decision-making AI allows for good counseling without learning a vast amount of counseling data.”


Since its launch in June, ‘Mungkul’ is being demonstrated through open innovation with Samsung C&T’s Construction Division. CEO Jeong explained, “Earlier this year, we were selected for the FutureScape, an open innovation program by Samsung C&T’s Construction Division and the Seoul Business Agency, and are currently in demonstration. A booth named ‘Mind Booth’ is installed inside Samsung C&T’s Construction Division, where individuals seeking counseling can enter and receive counseling, emotional analysis, and meditation for 25 minutes.” The Mind Booth currently has a reservation rate of 100% for three consecutive weeks, and it is expected to attract interest from companies or institutions introducing employee counseling.

“Open Innovation with Large Corporations Made Possible Thanks to SBA”


CEO Jeong attributes the success of Pong’s deep tech business to the SBA. CEO Jeong stated, “The SBA provided an office within the Seoul Startup Hub Chang-dong, and we are now in our second year of residency. Additionally, when developing services, privacy policies need to be reviewed, and the SBA arranged expert meetings for such matters. They also plan to host an investor networking day in the second half of the year, and we have already received revisions and advice related to IR (Initial Public Offering) with the help of Quantify Incubator.”

Beyond the collaboration with Samsung C&T’s Construction Division, various institutions are seeking Mungkul AI. CEO Jeong stated, “As the AI service becomes more concrete, demonstrations are scheduled for the second half of the year at Daejeon Jung-gu Office and Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation, and we are in discussions with one of the major universities in Korea. In addition to the AI service, existing face-to-face programs are also progressing smoothly, and we plan to continue projects such as programs with the Seoul Youth Base Center and the social connection prescription project of the Seoul Isolation Prevention Center.”

Beyond Counseling AI, Developing ‘Companion AI’ to Accompany People


As they enter the second year of business, financial stability has been secured, and the revenue structure has become solid, but CEO Jeong believes the business remains challenging. CEO Jeong stated, “Every day is difficult. Having been involved in non-profit activities throughout the first half of my life, it is not easy to set the direction and approach for the business. It is quite challenging to coordinate the interests of various people and build teamwork among members. I believe it will gradually improve.”

Although CEO Jeong has just begun the commercialization of empathy AI Mungkul, the future direction is clear. CEO Jeong stated, “I want to develop AI that accurately reads human emotions. While AI does not provide answers by understanding human behavior or context, it will become possible to gauge emotions through patterns in voice tone or facial expressions. In the future, I want to create Companion AI that helps individuals socialize using this approach.”

IT Donga Reporter Nam Si-hyun (sh@itdonga.com)

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