The Case for Community Wealth Building in South Korea

By The Democracy Collaborative and The Hope Institute *

July 31, 2025

Introduction

This work is a joint paper by The Hope Institute and The Democracy Collaborative (TDC) to explore whether it is possible to fully introduce the Community Wealth Building (CWB) model to local/regional governments in Korea. It draws on work by the Hope Institute — which has a long-held interest in CWB, having researched and facilitated visits for local politicians to the UK, including Preston and Scotland.  TDC has also visited South Korea, sharing and exchanging learning and experience with the Hope Institute, local councils and national parliamentarians.

This paper explores the Community Wealth Building model, considering how it could fit within South Korean domestic economic policy, and its potential application in local councils.  In this — as in all countries globally — we are not starting afresh, there are pre-existing economic alternatives and progressive economic policies in Korea, which represent fertile context for the growth and acceleration of Community Wealth Building as a pathway to a more democratic economy.

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction

  1.1 Background

  1.2 A New Momentum

• 2. What is Community Wealth Building

  2.1 History

  2.2 The CWB model

  • Five Pillars

  2.3 Action Planning

• 3. The South Korean Context through Five Pillars of CWB

  3.1 Inclusive and Democratic Enterprise

  1. Policy and action on Inclusive and Democratic Enterprises in South Korea
     - Social economy
     - Cooperatives in Korea

  2. Prospects for Community Wealth Building through Inclusive and democratic Enterprises

  3.2 Procurement

  1. Background to Progressive Procurement

  2. Policy and action on progressive procurement in South Korea

  3. Implication of procurement policy for Community Wealth Building application

  3.3 Regionally Rooted Finance

  1. Policy and action on locally/regionally rooted finance in South Korea
     - Regional Reinvestment
     - Regional Credit Guarantee Foundation
     - Local Finance Promotion Policy of Korean Local Governments
     - Establishment and Operation of Social Economy Fund

  2. Implication of Regionally Rooted Finance for Community Wealth Building application

  3.4 Just Use of Land and Property

  1. Policy and action on Just use of land and Property in South Korea
     - Community Assetization
     - Social housing in Seoul

  2. Prospects for Community Wealth Building through just use of land and property

  3.5 Fair Work

  1. Policy and action on Fair work in South Korea
     - National Minimum Wage
     - Living wage
     - Security of Employment Contracts for non-standard work

  2. Prospects for Community Wealth Building through Fair work

• 4. Conclusion

  4.1 Need to advance all pillars collectively

  4.2 Lack of local economic power

  4.3 Role of civil society and activism

  4.4 Specific roles for local government

About

The Hope Institute

Established in 2006 without any corporate or government funding, The Hope Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization with the motto of practical and pragmatic way of thinking. The Hope Institute is a “Think and Do” tank. It focuses on alternative policy research on the various agendas in Korea, but also on putting ideas into action. 

At The Hope Institute, we are devoted to the development of policy research and citizen-participation programs, and to encourage social innovation and its impact on Korean society. We focus on identifying social problems that have not been sufficiently addressed by central government policies or by corporate initiatives. We produce research reports and programs for various  groups of people,including politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens, and we encourage them to adopt solutions.

The Democracy Collaborative

The Democracy Collaborative is an action-oriented think-do tank seeking to build a democratic economy through political-economic system change from the bottom up.

We do this both through our on-the-ground practice – a body of work we call Community Wealth Building, which is the practical expression of our commitments – through interventions in the ideas system, and at the level of policy and strategy. Our work is organized around the larger frame of a democratic economy as our contender to become the next system of political economy.

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* This report was written by The Hope Institute’s KiuSik Bae, Board Member, Ju Whan Lim, former Chief Director, Mi Kyung Lee, Research Fellow, NaHyeon Choi, Senior Researcher, Jiho Park, former Research Fellow, and Eun Kyung Lee, Chief Director; and The Democracy Collaborative’s Neil McInroy, Global Lead for Community Wealth Building and Matthew Brown, Senior Fellow for Promotion of Community Wealth Building in the UK