How Policy Is Building a Social Economy in South Korea
29 Mar 2023
The passage of the 2011 Framework Act on Cooperatives has also played a critical role in the expansion of a solidarity economy in Korea. Although cooperatives have existed in Korea since the early 20th century—the Nonghyeop agricultural cooperative being one of the largest cooperatives in the world—before the FAC, it was hard to launch a cooperative at the grassroots level in large part because forming a cooperative required at least 200 members and $300,000 in capital. The FAC reduced the minimum required number of people to five and established a simple process to apply for cooperative status, which only requires residents to submit articles of association to their home city or a related jurisdiction.
