Article 1 (Purpose) The purpose of this Ordinance is to contribute to the creation of stable jobs, the realization of economic democracy, the recovery of the regional community, and social integration by prescribing matters necessary for supporting the establishment and operation of cooperatives and by creating and vitalizing the ecosystem of cooperatives.

Article 2 (Definitions) The terms used in this Ordinance are defined as follows:
1. The term "cooperative" means a cooperative and a federation of cooperatives defined in Article 2 of the Framework Act on Cooperatives (hereinafter referred to as the "Act"); and a cooperative and a federation of cooperatives established pursuant to any other individual Act;
2. The term "social cooperative" means a cooperative and a federation of cooperatives the purposes of which are non-profit as in conducting projects related to the promotion of the rights, interests and welfare of regional residents and providing social services or jobs to vulnerable social groups, among the cooperatives defined in subparagraph 1;
3. The term "consultative council of cooperatives" (hereinafter referred to as the "consultative council") means a consultative body organized and operated by any cooperative to mutually cooperate, promote understanding, and develop joint projects, with other cooperatives, foreign cooperatives, and the relevant international organizations;
4. The term "ecosystem of cooperatives" means a system in which the establishment of cooperatives, the creation of markets, various participations of the interested parties, reproduction, reinvestment, etc. happen as part of a virtuous cycle;
5. The term "social economy" means an economic system in which production, exchange, distribution and consumption happen on the basis of cooperation and mutual benefits to realize public interests and social values, such as elimination of a socio-economic polarization, recovery of a social security network, improvement of common life quality, and welfare level of the members of society.

Article 3 (Basic Principles) (1) Cooperatives shall be operated based on the basic idea of independence, self-sufficiency, and autonomy; and on the cooperative values and principles as formulated by the International Cooperative Association.
(2) Cooperatives shall be operated on the basis of their voluntary and democratic participation, and mutual reliability.

Article 4 (Responsibilities of Mayor) (1) The Mayor of the Seoul Metropolitan Government (hereinafter referred to as the "Mayor") shall endeavor to support the establishment (including the transformation; hereinafter the same shall apply) and operation of cooperatives and to create the foundation necessary for creating and vitalizing the ecosystem of cooperatives.
(2) The Mayor shall formulate and implement comprehensive policies to create and vitalize the ecosystem of cooperatives. In such case, the Mayor shall endeavor to reflect the opinions of federations of cooperatives and consultative councils.
(3) The Mayor shall endeavor to provide education and publicity for proliferating the importance and value of cooperation.
(4) The Mayor shall provide financial support and improve systems to ensure that cooperatives by type of business would not be discriminated against in competing other small and medium enterprises.

Article 5 (Master Plan for Cooperatives) (1) The Mayor shall formulate and implement a master plan for cooperatives (hereinafter referred to as a "master plan") every three years to create and vitalize the ecosystem of cooperatives.
(2) A master plan shall contain the following matters:
1. Visions of policies for supporting cooperatives and strategies for developing cooperatives;
2. Matter concerning policies for supporting the vitalization of cooperatives under the following subparagraphs:
(a) Supporting the establishment and operation of cooperatives;
(b) Providing publicity, education, and consulting services to enhance the awareness of cooperatives and to expand the foundation therefor;
(c) Fostering professional human resources and providing education and information to the members of cooperatives and the persons who intend to start up a business;
(d) Building the infrastructure for cooperatives and creating conditions for cooperatives;
(e) Vitalizing joint purchase and entrustment of public services;
3. Mutual cooperation among cooperatives-related agencies and building networks among them;
4. Matters concerning the investigation of actual status of cooperatives and the improvement of policies for cooperatives;
5. Matters concerning administrative and financial support to cooperatives;
6. Other matters necessary for vitalizing cooperatives.
(3) The Mayor shall formulate and implement an annual implementation plan based on a basic plan.
(4) After the coverage period of a basic plan under paragraph (1) or an annual implementation plan under paragraph (3) is terminated, the Mayor shall evaluate the outcomes of the relevant plan and reflect their improvements in the plan for the next year.
(5) The Mayor shall, in formulating and implementing a basic plan, have such basic plan linked with the important policies of the Seoul Metropolitan Government (hereinafter referred to as the "Seoul Government").

Article 6 (Survey on Actual State) (1) The Mayor may conduct a survey on the actual state of cooperatives to formulate and implement a basic plan.
(2) The Mayor may entrust a specialized institution or organization to conduct a survey on the actual state under paragraph (1) and may, in such case, subsidize necessary expenses within the budget.
(3) The Mayor shall try to find schemes to improve policies for cooperatives on the basis of the results of a survey on the actual state.

Article 7 (Establishment of Committee) (1) The Committee for Cooperatives (hereinafter referred to as the "Committee") shall be established to deliberate on matters concerning the creation, vitalization, etc. of the ecosystem of cooperatives. In such cases, the functions of the Committee shall be performed by the Social Economy Committee under Article 9 of the Seoul Metropolitan Government Framework Ordinance on Social Economy. <Amended by Ordinance No. 6061, Jan. 17, 2016>
(2) The Committee shall deliberate on the following matters concerning cooperatives:
1. Matters concerning important policies for vitalizing cooperatives;
2. Matters concerning the establishment and evaluation of basic plans and annual implementation plays;
3. Check-up and monitoring of policies for supporting the vitalization of cooperatives;
4. Other matters deemed necessary for vitalizing cooperatives.
(3) A working committee for cooperatives vitalization may be established under the Committee to deliberate on and coordinate, in advance, the agenda items referred to the Committee and may deal with the matters delegated by the Committee, etc.

Article 8 (Establishment and Operation of Counseling and Support Center) (1) The Mayor may establish and operate a counseling and support center for cooperatives (hereinafter referred to as the "Center") to support the establishment, operation, etc. of cooperatives.
(2) The Center shall perform the following functions:
1. Provision of Counseling on the establishment of a cooperative and provision of the relevant information thereon;
2. Support for reporting the establishment of a cooperative;
3. Education of the prospective establishers of a cooperative and education of the members, officers, and employees of a cooperative;
4. Support of the start-up of a cooperative and consulting about the management thereof;
5. Education and publicity on cooperatives;
6. Other matters deemed necessary for supporting cooperatives.
(3) The Mayor may entrust a relevant organization or corporation with the operation of the Center pursuant to the Seoul Metropolitan Government Ordinance on Entrustment of the Administrative Work to the Private Sector. In such case, the Mayor may wholly or partially subsidize expenses for operating the Center within the budget.

Article 9 (Education and Publicity) The Mayor may perform or provide support for education and publicity on the following:
1. Enhancement of the understanding about cooperatives of the citizens and the prospective establishers of a cooperative;
2. Education for increasing the capability of the members of cooperatives;
3. Promotion of sales of products and services of cooperatives located in the districts of Seoul;
4. Improvement the consciousness of the citizens for proliferating the value and culture of cooperation.

Article 10 (Day of Cooperatives) On the first Saturday of July designated as the Day of Cooperatives pursuant to Article 12 of the Act and during the preceding week thereof, the Mayor shall endeavor to hold events, etc. suitable for the purpose of such designation.

Article 11 (Creation and Operation of Fund for Cooperatives) (1) The Mayor may create and operate a fund for cooperatives (hereinafter referred to as "cooperation fund") to vitalize cooperatives.
(2) The cooperation fund may be used for the following purposes:
1. Loan of funds for starting up and operating a cooperative;
2. Expenses for projects of federations of cooperatives and of consultative councils for vitalizing and supporting cooperatives;
3. Support related to technology development, investigation, and research with respect to the projects of cooperatives;
4. Other purpose deemed by the Mayor necessary.

Article 12 (Support) (1) The Mayor may support the following matters to create and vitalize the ecosystem of cooperatives:
1. Provision of advice and information on specialized fields necessary for establishing and operating cooperatives, such as management, law, accounting, and technology;
2. Fosterage of professional human resources of cooperatives, education of the members, officers, and employees thereof, and education on startup;
3. Projects of and federations of cooperatives by region and by type of business, and those of consultative councils by region and by type of business for vitalizing and supporting cooperatives;
4. Creation of cooperation funds;
5. Vitalization of cooperation funds or foundations by unit of district;
6. Building networks of cooperatives by unit of autonomous Gu;
7. Building of ‘civil networks for social economy' and their activities to promote cooperation, joint projects, etc. with organizations of social economy;
8. Other affairs deemed necessary by the Mayor.
(2) The Mayor may provide support for expenses for purchasing sites and expenses of facilities necessary for establishing or operating social cooperatives.

Article 12-2 (Preferential Purchase, etc.) (1) The Mayor or the heads of affiliated agencies of the Seoul Government shall encourage the preferential purchase of goods or services produced by cooperatives in concluding contracts for construction, commodities manufacturing or purchasing and services.
(2) The Mayor shall implement a public purchase target system for the goods or services of cooperatives and make public the results of such implementation.
(3) The Mayor shall encourage participation of cooperatives in public services entrusted to private entities and may give added points to cooperatives when they participate therein.
[This Article Newly Inserted by Ordinance No. 5680, Mar. 20, 2014]

Article 13 (Building of Cooperative System) The Mayor shall endeavor to cooperate with the private sectors such as federations of cooperatives and consultative councils to vitalize cooperatives.

Article 14 (Reduction or Exemption of Municipal Taxes) (1) Where a cooperative rents any property or commodity of the Seoul Government, the rental charge may be reduced or exempted pursuant to the Seoul Metropolitan Government Ordinance on Public Property and Commodity Management. <Amended by Ordinance No. 7046, Mar. 28, 2019>
(2) With respect to the businesses and property of a social cooperative, municipal taxes such as acquisition tax may be reduced or exempted pursuant to the Restriction of Special Local Taxation Act and the Seoul Metropolitan Government Ordinance on Tax Reduction or Exemption, and use fees, other fees, charges, etc. may be reduced or exempted pursuant to individual Ordinances. <Amended by Ordinance No. 7046, Mar. 28, 2019>

Article 15 (Delegation and Entrustment of Authority) (1) The Mayor may delegate part of affairs concerning cooperatives to the heads of autonomous Gus pursuant to the Seoul Metropolitan Government Ordinance on the Delegation of Affairs. <Amended by Ordinance No. 5692, May 14, 2014>
(2) The Mayor may entrust part of the affairs belonging to the authority of the Mayor prescribed by this Ordinance to any corporation, organization, etc. to create and vitalize the ecosystem of cooperatives.

Article 16 (Rewards) (1) In cases falling under any of the following subparagraphs, the Mayor may grant rewards to vitalize cooperatives:
1. A cooperative that is a model example such as self-reliant management and contribution to regional society;
2. An individual or organization deemed to have distinguished merit in the vitalization of cooperatives.
(2) The Seoul Metropolitan Government Ordinance on Official Commendation shall apply to detailed procedure under paragraph (1).

Article 17 (Enforcement Rule) Matters necessary for enforcing this Ordinance shall be prescribed by rule of the Seoul Government.

ADDENDUM
This Ordinance shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation.
ADDENDUM <Ordinance No. 5680, Mar. 20, 2014>
This Ordinance shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation.
ADDENDA <Ordinance No. 5692, May 14, 2014>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Ordinance shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation.
Articles 2 and 3 Omitted.
ADDENDA <Ordinance No. 6061, Jan. 7, 2016>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Ordinance shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation.
Article 2 Omitted.
ADDENDA <Ordinance No. 7046, Mar. 28, 2019>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Ordinance shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation.
Article 2 Omitted.