It is important to make operation of nonprofit organizations, once they are incorporated and granted beneficial legal status, be accountable to the whole society as well as to government. The law governing NPOs usually stipulates how nonprofit corporations keep records of financial transactions and all the information related to purpose activity, and financial matters including balance sheet and financial statement be made public.
4. Final Remarks
Recently, circumstances have changed very differently: dramatic growth of civil society, deepening of globalization, the end of developmental state. The government as well as business sector does not stand above the civil sector any more. The problems that cannot be adequately handled by the government or should not be handled alone by the government come under the mechanics of governance between the three actors. The vision of the renewed governance model must involve the full involvement of civil society and a strong and balanced partnership between the state, business and nonprofit sectors. At present, Korean civil sector is powerful enough to be an equal partner in governance and symptoms of this partnership are clearly noticeable.
But, the legal framework reflecting government's policy on NPOs still is not well prepared to support their role in the new model of governance. Therefore, the newly changing environments for the role of NPOs need new government's policy, basically changing from the old-fashioned regulator to supporter to or partner with NPOs. For the role of NPOs to be expanded, the formation and incorporation of NPOs should be much easier and simpler, preferably under the general law system rather than the current special law system. For NPOs be financially sustainable, tax benefits, for NPOs and contributors to them, are to be expanded to broad areas of nonprofit activities. And the NPOs efforts to seek fund from the general public has to be protected, while government's direct financial support, if needed, should be limited to a minimum level. At the same time, it needs also government's policy efforts to improve transparency and accountability of NPOs.
Tae-Kyu Park
Department of Economies
Yonsei University
References
K.H. Jung, T.K. Park & C. S. Hwang, "Nonprofit Law of Korea," Philanthropy and Law in Asia, Thomas Silk, ed., Jossey Bass, 1999.
T. K. Park, "The Economic Crisis, Government, and Civil Society in Korea," presented at the Third Intellectual Dialogue on Building Asia's Tomorrow, Bangkok, June 2000.
