Understanding Challenges and Opportunities in the Nonprofit Sector in Korea

Abstract

This paper reviews the growth of the nonprofit sector in Korea and discusses its challenges and opportunities. During the past two decades nonprofit organizations in Korea have developed faster than those in other countries and became core players to substantially influence Korean society. Korean nonprofit organizations have traditionally emphasized an advocacy role in promoting human rights and democracy and checking and safeguarding against the abusive powers of government and big business. Compared with Western countries’ nonprofits, Korean nonprofit organizations have a short history and distinctive historical and cultural experiences and contexts. This paper argues that, to better understand challenges and opportunities faced by the nonprofit organizations in a country, we need to review the historical and cultural contexts from which the nonprofit organizations in the country emerge, rather than apply definitions and conceptions about Western nonprofits unreflectively to other societies, such as Korea.