South Chungcheong governor welcomes passage of Social Solidarity Economy Framework Act

South Chungcheong Province Governor Park Soo-hyun welcomed the passage of the Social Solidarity Economy Framework Act at a plenary session of the National Assembly on Thursday, expressing his support through a Facebook post.

The bill was first introduced in the 19th National Assembly in 2014 and was proposed and scrapped four times across the 20th, 21st and 22nd assemblies before finally clearing the floor 13 years later.

The law provides a legal basis for consolidating support policies and implementation frameworks for social solidarity economy organizations — including social enterprises, cooperatives, village enterprises, self-reliance enterprises and social ventures — that had previously been scattered across different government ministries.

Ahead of the bill's passage, the province established a dedicated Social Solidarity Economy Bureau — the first of its kind among metropolitan and provincial governments — as part of its first organizational restructuring under the current administration. The province has positioned the social solidarity economy not as a collection of individual support projects but as a core pillar of provincial governance to address polarization and regional decline.

With the law now enacted, the province plans to link previously fragmented policies and support systems related to the social solidarity economy, and to build a more robust support framework so that social enterprises, village enterprises, cooperatives and self-reliance enterprises can take root in local communities and grow on a stable footing.

"In front of shuttered schools, village enterprises brought communities back to life; neighbors who lost their jobs built self-reliance enterprises; and cooperatives kept neighborhood shops and alleyways alive," Park said. "The law's name came late, but the social solidarity economy was already woven into our lives — today, the National Assembly finally answered the long-standing call from the field."

"South Chungcheong wanted to answer that call a little earlier," he added. "If the law has opened the road, we must now create change on the ground. South Chungcheong will stay the course to ensure today's passage translates into new jobs, care services and community strength across the province."

Park also extended his gratitude and congratulations to the National Assembly and the government for their years of effort to enact the legislation, as well as to all those who have built the social solidarity economy from the ground up.