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 ...

I once visited a social enterprise that provides food care. Everyone was very busy making lunch boxes to deliver to the elderly.(Photo by Milly)    A few days ago, the elderly lady living next door kept pressing our doorbell and banging on our door. I was so startled that when I opened the door, she told me she was feeling very unwell and asked if I could take her to the hospital. I immediately called an ambulance and managed to contact her guardian to explain the situation.   After a while, the guardian and the lady came back to our door. The guardian said she had been to the hospital and there was no major problem. However, it seemed she might have some early signs of dementia.   Since then, the lady has occasionally knocked on our door or called out looking for someone. One time, she even tried to follow a delivery person, asking to be taken along. Watching this, I couldn’t help but think of my and my husband’s grandparents. My own grandparents had severe ...