What this statute is for, and what this page will not retell

The official purpose of the Social Welfare Services Act, in the wording used in current official article notes, is to prescribe basic matters on social welfare services so as to protect the dignity and the right to a humane life of people who need those services, to raise professionalism, to promote fairness, transparency, and appropriateness in the work, to build a community welfare system, and to raise the quality of services. A CampusDown assignment on 'recent amendments' is a study packet; the binding text is the statute on law.go.kr.

As of official listings checked for this page, a partially amended Act (Act No. 20883, promulgated 1 April 2025) was in force from 2 October 2025. Amendment dates move. This page is an institutional map of the Act, not a retelling of welfare-law history, unwritten sources, or a typology of social welfare corporations already covered elsewhere.

Who carries the duty, and which local bodies the Act names

The Act places responsibility on the State and on local governments. In the usual teaching map, a Social Welfare Committee sits at the Special City / metropolitan city / do level, and a community social welfare council (지역사회복지협의체) sits at the si/gun/gu level. Their exact membership and functions belong in the live articles, not in a paraphrase sold as a complete organigram.

Readers who need a comparison can start from a different institutional fact in each country, not from a copied closer. The United States has no single federal counterpart; social-work licensing is largely a state matter, and service programs sit under many statutes. Japan has the Social Welfare Act (社会福祉法) and a national certified social worker (社会福祉士) route. Mainland China regulates social work and social assistance under its own statutes and a social-work examination system. Gulf states typically license facilities and charities through a ministry or a regulator rather than through one Korean-style services act. Those are starting points; they are not copies of Korean committees.

Personnel, corporations, and the facility rule — including the proviso

Social worker licenses in grades 1, 2, and 3 are issued by the Minister of Health and Welfare. Establishing a social welfare corporation requires permission under the Act; this page does not repeat a four-type corporation taxonomy. Facility standards and reporting duties also sit in the Act and its subordinate rules.

Article 41 says that the capacity of each facility shall not exceed 300 persons, except in cases prescribed by Presidential Decree. The Enforcement Decree article on facilities that may exceed 300 (checked against official text in force in 2026, including Presidential Decree No. 36071) lists, among others, certain elderly residential facilities and elderly nursing facilities under the Elderly Welfare Act, and facilities that a mayor/county superintendent/district head recognizes as meeting criteria notified by the Minister. A packet line that stops at 'cannot exceed 300' is incomplete. Confirm the live article and decree on law.go.kr before you cite a number in an exam or a brief.

Limits

Subordinate decrees, ministerial notices, and local ordinances change, and an assignment's 'recent amendment' list can lag. This page does not inventory every 2013 or 2014 amendment mentioned in older packets. For a decision that affects a person or a facility, read the official consolidation and, if needed, a Ministry of Health and Welfare notice.

Sources

1. Social Welfare Services Act (사회복지사업법), official text and article notes on the Korean Law Information Center (law.go.kr), including the Act as listed with Act No. 20883 and enforcement from 2 October 2025, checked for this page in November 2026.
2. Enforcement Decree of the Social Welfare Services Act, official text on law.go.kr, including the article on facilities that may exceed a capacity of 300, as listed with Presidential Decree No. 36071 in 2026.
3. Ministry of Health and Welfare guidance and the current social-worker license route, for grades and application practice beyond the statute's headings.
4. The CampusDown study assignment on the Act and 'recent amendments,' used only as a pointer to topics, not as the live rule.

Last updated: November 13, 2026