Republic of Korea adopts Framework Act on the Social and Solidarity Economy

Republic of Korea adopts Framework Act on the Social and Solidarity Economy

The new law establishes a coherent national policy framework for the social and solidarity economy, strengthening policy coordination in the Republic of Korea while offering a potential reference point for the wider region and international policy debate.

21 August 2026

On 20 August 2026, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea adopted the Framework Act on the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), the first framework law of its kind in Asia and the Pacific. First proposed in 2014, the Act took 13 years to reach passage, reflecting both the scope of the coordination it required across ministries and levels of government and the sustained advocacy of the SSE community.

National significance: From fragmented programmes to a coherent system

Until now, support for the SSE in the Republic of Korea has been organized largely by organizational type, with separate laws, programmes and budgets for social enterprises, village enterprises, self-sufficiency enterprises, various types of cooperatives and other related entities, without an overarching framework connecting them. This fragmented approach created duplication in some areas, left gaps in others and made it more difficult to scale successful initiatives across the wider SSE. The Framework Act establishes a common institutional and policy structure to address this fragmentation. It creates a presidential committee to oversee five-year national plans, a policy centre to support strategy development, and provincial-level support centres to facilitate implementation, providing central and local governments with an integrated framework for the first time. The Act also establishes a legal basis for social and solidarity finance, enabling designated institutions to channel investment, loans and guarantees to eligible SSE entities. In addition, it strengthens access to markets through preferential public procurement, priority consideration in outsourcing of public services and support for training and market-development.

The intended impact is illustrated by the models the Government has identified as reference cases: residents repurposing vacant homes as community-run hotels, local energy cooperatives reinvesting their earnings in community welfare services, cooperative housing that maintains affordable rents for resident-members and neighbourhood-based networks coordinating care for persons with disabilities. Under the Act, such initiatives are intended to move beyond isolated, ad hoc cases and become part of a system that the State is committed to replicating, in response to structural challenges including demographic and economic decline in some regions, population ageing and gaps in the provision of care.

The Act in the international policy context: National implementation of a global agenda

The significance of the Act potentially extends beyond the Republic of Korea. As the first framework law on the SSE adopted in Asia and the Pacific, it offers a concrete legislative reference point for other countries in the region considering how to recognize, support and regulate the social and solidarity economy.It also gives concrete national expression to the growing international recognition of the SSE. Central among these is the ILO's 2022 Resolution concerning decent work and the social and solidarity economy, which called on Member States to develop coherent policy and legal frameworks. These approaches are also reflected in the OECD's 2022 Recommendation on the SSE and Social Innovation and were subsequently reinforced by the UN General Assembly's 2023 and 2024 resolutions on the SSE. The Republic of Korea's Framework Act provides a concrete example of how the ILO Resolution can inform and be reflected in national legislation and institutions, offering a reference point for other Member States considering similar legislation.

The Republic of Korea's Framework Act joins a growing body of national legislation, including national framework legislation on the SSE already adopted in countries including Ecuador, France, Mexico, Portugal and Spain, that gives the SSE a distinct legal recognition within national social and economic policy. Its passage adds momentum to this wider movement and offers Asia and the Pacific its first example of what a coordinated, a coordinated legal and policy framework across government for the SSE can look like in practice.