A cooperative communication system and method is provided. A cooperative communication relay station includes a signal receiving unit which receives a source signal from a source node and a multiple relaying signal relayed by a neighboring relay station, a signal generation unit which generates a first relay signal and a second relay signal, the first relay signal being generated by performing a decode-and forward scheme with respect to the multiple relaying signal and the second relay signal being generated by performing an amplify-and-forward scheme with respect to the source signal, and a signal transmission unit which transmits the first relay signal and the second relay signal to a destination node.