The government will foster 2,000 leading social and solidarity economy corporations that post 10 billion won in annual sales or employ 100 or more people by 2035. It also plans to raise the share of the social and solidarity economy in gross domestic product (GDP) and employment to 10% each. Through this, it aims to grow the social and solidarity economy into a pillar of the national economy and spread the values of trust and solidarity across society.
On the 30th, at a Cabinet meeting presided over by the president, the government announced a comprehensive plan for developing the social and solidarity economy.
The social and solidarity economy is an economic activity model that pursues social values based on solidarity and cooperation and contributes to solving community problems. Representative organizations include social enterprises, cooperatives, village enterprises, self-support enterprises, and social ventures.
Overseas, the importance of the social and solidarity economy has come to the fore due to economic crises such as polarization, the climate crisis, and low birthrates, and the weakening of community solidarity and welfare functions. In response, the UN adopted a resolution in 2023 to promote it, recognizing that the social and solidarity economy can contribute to sustainable economic growth.
In Korea as well, since the 2000s, systems and support policies for the social and solidarity economy have been introduced in response to employment and income instability and regional economic stagnation caused by internal and external shocks. Since then, related organizations and the number of employees have steadily increased. As of 2024, there are 35,493 organizations employing 362,266 people.
However, Korea's social and solidarity economy is quantitatively and qualitatively insufficient compared with other countries. In all domestic corporations, the employment share of social and solidarity economy organizations is 1.8%, and their share of GDP is 0.8%. In the European Union, the figures are 6.3% and 6% to 8%, respectively. This is because the average is a small scale of 1 billion won in sales and 10 workers, which limits its role in solving social problems. The lack of a foundation for systems, infrastructure, and corporate growth is also cited as a problem.
Accordingly, the government selected "promoting growth of the social and solidarity economy" as a core national task (No. 81) and, in Oct. last year, designated the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as the lead ministry to push activation policies at a pan-government level. This comprehensive plan was established to increase the connectivity among policies that had been pursued separately by each ministry and to present a mid- to long-term direction to invigorate the social and solidarity economy across various policy areas.
Under the vision of "an economy that moves together, a happy Korea," the comprehensive plan includes three strategies and 15 key tasks. The government will also promote leading models focusing on four priority areas closely tied to people's lives: care, housing, energy, and rural and fishing communities. Through this, the number of leading corporations, only 250 as of 2024, will be fostered to 1,000 by 2030 and 2,000 by 2035.
First, the three strategies are composed of: ▲ support for growth and competitiveness: supporting sustainable growth of social and solidarity economy organizations ▲ creation of a regional innovation ecosystem: building a region-based ecosystem beyond individual corporations ▲ institutional and infrastructure innovation: integrating and linking policies scattered across ministries.
Specifically, to support growth and competitiveness, financial access for corporations will be enhanced by revitalizing social and solidarity finance. The government will expand Korea INclusive Finance Agency (KINFA) microfinance from 6 billion won a year to 15 billion won and increase the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) guarantee supply from 250 billion won last year to 350 billion won by 2030. In the private sector, banks will expand lending over the next three years (2026–2028) to 4.3 trillion won, up 18.3% from the previous period. The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives (KFCC) will increase lending to 200 billion won over the next five years. In addition, it will support step-by-step growth, expansion into public and private markets, taxation, and national and local government property.
The regional innovation ecosystem will be created through discovering innovation models by local governments, nurturing young talent, and expanding public participation and awareness. To integrate and link policies dispersed across ministries, the government will establish an integrated implementation system by enacting the Basic Act on the Social and Solidarity Economy to require the establishment and evaluation of central and local governments' basic (five-year) and implementation (one-year) plans, set up a committee under the president, and establish policy centers.
Along with these policy supports, the government plans to promote leading models in four priority areas where local demand is high, closely connected to daily life, and where the strengths of the social and solidarity economy can be demonstrated: care, housing, energy, and rural and fishing communities.
Yoon Ho-jung, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), said, "The role of the social and solidarity economy is very important to supplement the lack of public services in regions, such as care and housing, and to overcome national crises such as polarization and regional extinction," and added, "We will faithfully implement this comprehensive plan with relevant ministries so that more social and solidarity economy organizations can be created and grow in each region going forward."