[Interview] Why South Korean Women Built Cooperatives (Part 1)

 Haengbok Joongsim Co-op, which first opened its doors in 1989, closed down in 2024 after 35 years of history. As a consumer cooperative founded and led primarily by women—one that had vigorously driven diverse grassroots initiatives alongside the distribution of eco-friendly food—the news of its closure came as a profound shock to me. Looking back to 2024, when I first learned of its shutdown while reporting on the ground, I remember sitting at my desk in silence, completely stunned.

 

Yet, the fact that a women-led cooperative was established, operated, and sustained for over three decades carries immense historical significance. The 35-year journey carved out by Haengbok Joongsim Co-op remains an indelible chapter in the history of the cooperative movement.

 

This article captures an interview with Ahn In-sook, former President of the Haengbok Joongsim Federation of Consumer Cooperatives, who fought to sustain the organization until its final days. Believing that documenting the values it championed and the lessons learned across those 35 years is deeply meaningful, I sat down with her to record this history.

 

Ahn In-sook, former President of the Haengbok Joongsim Federation of Consumer Cooperatives. Although she asked for understanding due to feeling under the weather that day, she engaged passionately in the interview. (Photo by Milly)

Interviewee: Ahn In-sook, Former President of Haengbok Joongsim Federation of Consumer Cooperatives

 

Q. Hello. Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?

 

A. Hello. I am currently 61 years old. My journey in the cooperative movement began around age 35 when I joined Korean Womenlink as a member in the metropolitan area. At the time, Korean Womenlink was a nationwide women's organization with around ten regional chapters. Internally, it ran a Media Action Center, a Sexual Violence Counseling Center, and a consumer cooperative, spearheading institutional reforms and diverse programs to advance women's rights and empowerment. The chapters in the metropolitan area, in particular, were formed upon the organizing capacity of the co-op. It was a process where members started with the co-op and naturally developed a women-centered consciousness along the way.

 

For 12 years, I planned and executed key local programs, working as a sexual violence counselor and a dietary education instructor. In 2006, when the regional co-op incorporated independently as a cooperative entity, I served as managing director and board president. From 2013, I served as President of the Federation of Womenlink Consumer Cooperatives for four years. After stepping down, I worked for three years as Executive Committee Chair of the Korea Social Economy Network (now Korea Social Solidarity Economy), and in 2021, I returned to serve as President of the Haengbok Joongsim Federation of Consumer Cooperatives. (The name was changed in 2012 from Womenlink Consumer Cooperatives Federation to Haengbok Joongsim Federation of Consumer Cooperatives.)

 

During a period when my career was interrupted due to childcare, Womenlink became an open platform that allowed me to re-engage with society. Experiencing a cooperative fundamentally grounded in feminist perspectives remains the greatest asset of my life.

 

Q. Haengbok Joongsim Co-op originated in 1989 as the "Walking Together Consumer Living Cooperative" (Hamkke Ganeun Consumer Living Cooperative), founded by Korean Womenlink. It later changed its name to Womenlink Co-op, operated as an umbrella cooperative, restructured into a federation system as the "Federation of Womenlink Consumer Cooperatives," and eventually became the "Haengbok Joongsim Federation of Consumer Cooperatives." Throughout this time, your core mission was supplying eco-friendly, organic produce. What compelled women to establish their own cooperative entity rather than simply organizing group purchases of healthy food? What fundamental change was the co-op created to achieve?

 

A. Korean Womenlink was founded in 1987 under the core conviction that women must transform legal and institutional frameworks and emerge as active protagonists of social change. A world of equality and dignity for women is never handed down as a gift.

 

The ultimate objective was "creating a better society through food," and within that vision, women served as the most powerful catalyst. At a time when the labor movement focused predominantly on female factory workers, Korean Womenlink proclaimed a women's movement targeting white-collar female workers and full-time homemakers alike. We recognized that "food" and "local community"—the primary concerns of homemakers—were the most vital agendas for organizing women. Our reference models were Japan's Seikatsu Club Consumers' Co-operative and the Kanagawa Network Movement.

 

Q. After decades of operation, Haengbok Joongsim Co-op ultimately entered bankruptcy. Could you walk us through the structural factors behind this outcome and its current status?

 

A. As large-scale consumer cooperatives emerged across South Korea, the traditional operating norms of the sector underwent a seismic shift. Major co-ops scaled rapidly through initiatives like organizing high-purchasing-power urban districts, centralizing logistics, consolidating farming hubs, and producing goods directly. As other co-ops expanded with economies of scale, Haengbok Joongsim Co-op’s competitive footing steadily eroded. It became increasingly difficult for us to secure daily consumer goods with price competitiveness or offer comparable delivery convenience on our own.

 

In particular, after ending our joint logistics partnership with Co-op A in 2012—which had been in place since 2007—transitioning to independent logistics incurred enormous fixed operating costs. Compounding this, the entire offline grocery retail landscape in Korea entered an era of fierce disruption driven by social commerce and dawn-delivery services. Every cooperative had to navigate this shifting distribution landscape, and Haengbok Joongsim Co-op had to fight relentlessly to defend its brand and identity amidst cutthroat market competition.

 

Despite immense internal efforts, recurring operating deficits led to recommendations for business closure and dissolution. However, feeling that whether we successfully turned things around or finally brought the organization to a responsible close, taking on that heavy responsibility was my calling, I accepted the presidency once again in 2021.

 

I joined hands with members of Happy Bridge Cooperative (a worker co-op in food services) to pursue new ventures grounded in consumer cooperatives. Adapting to evolving dietary trends, we launched sandwich and salad brands and attempted to outsource logistics to create a broad social economy food distribution network. However, logistics outsourcing failed to gain sufficient consensus from rural agricultural producers, and the new food brands did not gain adequate traction in the open market.

 

While pursuing these initiatives, we could not recoup capital investments, and cash flow grew increasingly strained. In 2024, we pursued an organizational merger with Co-op B. During that process, an opportunity emerged to enter into a logistics entrustment agreement with a faith-based direct-trade organization. However, it fell through right before execution, and we filed for bankruptcy.

 

👉The interview continues in Part 2!

 

❓❔Do you have questions for Ahn In-sook, former President of Haengbok Joongsim Federation of Consumer Cooperatives?

 

We deeply value your questions and feedback. If you have any inquiries or reflections for former President Ahn, please feel free to send them to [email address]. We will compile your questions and address them in a follow-up interview.