Small and Medium Enterprises as Facilitators of the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals Number 1 and 8 (the Case of the Republic of Korea)

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are currently a significant topic for discus-sion on the global agenda. This UN initiative, adopted in 2015, aims to improve the quality of life on the planet while preserving resources for both current and future generations. All coun-tries that have signed up for this initiative are taking different courses of action to achieve these goals. The Republic of Korea ranks relatively high in terms of engagement in the SDGs. In some points, the country has achieved success, in others the state still needs to take certain courses of action. At the same time, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) occupy a large share of the South Korean economic sector. Almost the majority of companies in the country belong to this type of business. This work examines the involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Re-public of Korea in the process of achieving Sustainable Development Goals numbered 1 and 8. The 1st goal addresses the problem of eliminating poverty, and the 8th talks about promoting decent work and economic growth. Very few academic papers address this issue. The main re-search method is the collection of statistical data and further interpretation of it. The results of the study can be stated as quite controversial. As it turned out from the statistical research, SMEs are engaged in the process of achievement of SDGs 1 and 8, however, this cannot be classified as solely significant involvement. Moreover, this impact can be named as an indirect. These findings allow future researchers to analyze these indirect actions more comprehensively and highlight the direct actions of SMEs in further analysis.