We need to create a new economic model or social model for looking at economic growth. We must seek ways to embed social value within the capitalist system.
Chey Tae-won, chair of SK Group, said on the 10th at the "2026 value and growth forum" hosted by the Center for Social Value Enhancement Studies, a nonprofit research foundation established by SK, at the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, "Gross domestic product (GDP) must grow, but we need to reduce the high expense of solving social problems on the other side. Otherwise, growth becomes meaningless."
Chey diagnosed the slowdown in Korea's economic growth as stemming not only from insufficient domestic demand but also from rising social expense. He said, "The very perspective that sees GDP growth as economic growth, as we do now, is wrong. GDP must grow, but we need to reduce the high expense of solving social problems on the other side. Otherwise, growth becomes meaningless," adding, "If growth goes only to a few and does not lead to growth for all, social problems get bigger and expenses rise further, ultimately hobbling growth."
Chey said the old capitalist model no longer works. He noted, "In the current capitalist model, individuals and corporations act selfishly to earn money, the economic gains are taxed, and the government used the taxes it collected to address issues such as safety, welfare, and defense arising in society, but now every country is groaning," adding, "The more the expense problem caused by social issues rises, the more the expense the government must bear increases, pushing the government into a situation where it cannot effectively solve social problems."
Chey then emphasized that from now on it is "time to create a new economic model that can solve social problems as well as achieve economic growth." To that end, SK has conducted a 10-year Social Progress Credit (SPC) experiment since 2015. SPC is an experiment that measures, in monetary terms, the outcomes of social enterprises or social ventures in solving social problems and provides financial rewards based on the measured values.
The SPC experiment began in 2015 with the participation of 44 corporations and, over the past 10 years, 468 corporations have taken part. According to the Center for Social Value Enhancement Studies, the social value measured in employment outcomes, social service outcomes, environmental outcomes, and social ecosystem outcomes for these corporations totals 536.4 billion won. SK provided about 76.9 billion won in cash incentives in proportion to that. Among the corporations participating in SPC, those that received cash incentives for social value generated about three times more social outcomes than those that did not receive incentives.
Chey said, "If social problems get too big, they cannot coexist with capitalism," adding, "I thought about whether reducing society's misfortune and, conversely, creating society's happiness is something worthy of reward, and if it has value worthy of reward, who should give how much to those who do such work." He continued, "After thinking about whether giving rewards increases the creation of happiness and about methodologies to create more happiness anew, we conducted the experiment called SPC," adding, "The experimental result was that 'it is effective.'"
However, Chey said that for social value to spread, the issues of building measurement and reward systems must be resolved. He also worried that because corporations must pay incentives for social value, momentum could weaken depending on corporations' management conditions. Chey said, "The first challenge is the accuracy and objectivity of measurement," adding, "Business school professors participated in the SPC experiment and studied the measurement methods, and the objectivity of measurement will continue to rise."
Chey then pointed out that existing GDP does not sufficiently reflect social value and again emphasized that "a new design for growth is needed."
In addition, Chey stressed that an economic model based on social value is not merely welfare or public-interest activity but can become a new growth strategy. In the process of solving social problems, new markets and industries can form, which can have positive effects on expanding domestic demand and revitalizing the economy.
Chey said, "Solving regional issues and social problems arising from an aging society becomes an opportunity in the social economy," adding, "If this is applied to Korea, domestic demand will first grow. Then the burden on exports can be reduced accordingly, creating conditions for Korea to achieve solid growth."