South Korea opened on Monday a new equity capital market, called KONEX, tailored only for small venture companies, in a fresh move to help boost the "creative economy" advocated by President Park Guen-hye.

President Park, who took office in February, sought the creative economy, or a concept to converge science and information communication technology to the entire industry that can be believed to create jobs from newly created industries.

The KONEX, which stands for Korea New Exchange, started trading to enhance access of business startups and small venture companies to the equity capital market, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

Small firms in Seoul depended heavily on bank loans for funding, raising burdens for interest payment. Around 83.3 percent of financing for small companies came from bank loans as of 2011.

The new market was targeting small firms with less than 10 business years. It took around 14 years to be listed on the tech- heavy KOSDAQ market, but the easing regulations would make it easier for small growth companies to be listed on the new market.

To protect investors, direct investment will be restricted to expert, institutional investors along with retail investors with a deposit of more than 300 million won (around 260,000 U.S. dollars). Retail investors who want to invest in the KONEX-listed companies can buy such shares through indirect investment such as stock-type funds.

Nominated investors will assess the listing eligibility of companies to be listed on the KONEX, while preparing and submitting the business reports and taking care of disclosure requirements on behalf of the companies.

A total of 21 companies were listed and began to trade on the KONEX for the first time on Monday, including five bio-tech companies, four chip-equipment manufacturers, three software firms and two auto parts makers.

"The British AIM, the successful example of new capital market, had only 10 listed firms at the beginning, but it has more than 1, 000 firms listed on the market," FSC Chairman Shin Je-yoon said at the opening ceremony. "It took very long for the AIM to succeed. The government will offer policy support with patience."

The AIM, which stands for Alternative Investment Market, was launched in June 1996 with 10 companies listed. The number of firms listed on the AIM, assessed to be the most successful new capital market, surged to 1,088 as of April this year.