A few years ago, a self-sufficiency enterprise provided services for a client struggling with hoarding disorder.(Photo by Milly)    Among the many social economy organizations in South Korea, there is one type of enterprise that stands out — the Self-Support Enterprise .   The word “ jahwal ” ( 자활 ) in Korean means “to live independently by one’s own efforts.” A self-support enterprise is a business jointly operated by people who are low-income earners or recipients of the National Basic Livelihood Security Program , working together to overcome poverty and achieve self-reliance.   Unlike most social enterprises that pursue social value while generating profits, self-support enterprises exist for a deeper purpose: they help people move from being beneficiaries of welfare to becoming active contributors to their communities.   In short, they transform people from “those who receive help” into “those who give help.”   The Beginning of Self-Supp...

In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, I struggled to get masks. As the demand suddenly surged, the government introduced a system to allow people to purchase them in order.(Photo by Milly)  In 2020, as the COVID-19 virus spread across the world, South Korea, too, faced an unprecedented situation. Streets emptied, companies shifted to remote work, and face-to-face encounters became rare. During that time, I also worked entirely from home, handling everything through phone calls and online tools. It was a quiet yet deeply chaotic period.   Small Enterprises and Local Businesses Faced a Fight for Survival   As in-person interaction became impossible, all businesses suffered operational disruptions. But among them, the hardest hit were small businesses and micro-enterprises. Most social economy enterprises in Korea, being small in scale, were pushed to the brink of collapse. Each day was filled with anxiety how to pay employees this month, and whether they could...