Inside Korea’s Social Impact

  In the previous article, I explored gye, one of Korea’s traditional community-based practices. In the past, when ordinary people had limited access to formal financial institutions, gye functioned as a form of financial community. In my view, this tradition has evolved into what we now call social finance.   👉Reread Part 1 Korea’s Traditional Community Finance “Gye”: Its Expansion into Social Finance (Part 1)   In this article, I will examine how Korea’s traditional gye culture has connected to modern social finance, and how this transition has taken place.   Funding is always essential for running a business. For small-scale social impact organizations, social finance helps enhance sustainability and expand the ecosystem.(Photo by Milly)  What is Social Finance? So, what exactly does “social finance” mean in the Korean context?   Social finance refers to financial activities that go beyond generating profit and instead aim to solve social ...

  In the previous post, I explained how social impact is embedded in the cultural memory of Koreans through traditional practices such as Gye and Dure.   👉Read related articles In Korea’s Cultural Memory, There Is a Long Tradition of Solidarity   Today, I would like to take a closer look at the culture of Gye and discuss why it can be seen as having evolved into modern social finance.   When people think of finance, most tend to think of banks. I am no exception. Whenever I needed to deal with financial matters such as savings, deposits, or loans, I usually relied on banks. In fact, many people naturally assume that finance begins with banks. Some may also think of investment institutions.   However, if we look a little deeper, we can see that Korean society has long had a form of community-based finance centered on relationships. This is what I introduced in the previous post as Gye.   What is “Gye”?   Gye has taken various fo...

  In this blog, I have previously mentioned the development and role of cooperatives in Korea. In today’s post, I would like to write about how cooperatives can play a role in solving social problems and introduce several examples.   📌Cooperatives Are Not Just Business Organizations   Most people think of cooperatives simply as business organizations. This is also the case in Korea. Rather than pursuing only individual profit, some people establish cooperatives as a way of doing business that pursues shared benefits and collective values.   On the other hand, there are also cases where cooperatives are established in order to run businesses that aim to solve social problems. For example, socially disadvantaged groups such as people with disabilities or older adults may form cooperatives and run businesses together, allowing them to continue sustainable social activities.   In addition, cooperatives are sometimes highlighted as a direct way to ad...