Some Controversial Issues in Saemaul Undong in Korea and Their Implications for Its Transferability

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss in a bid to demystify, some important issues surrounding the implementation of Saemaul Undong, which is a rural development policy program initiated by President Park Chung Hee in 1970 in the Republic of Korea (ROK). First of all, it has been argued that the socio-cultural and economic homogeneity of rural society in Korea during the 1970s provided a significant positive condition for the success of Saemaul Undong. It is true that this social homogeneity of rural Korea was a very favorable social environment for Saemaul Undong during its initial stages. However, it was not and is not a ‘necessary’ condition for any successful rural community development programs. Saemaul Undong programs or any rural community development programs which are designed and implemented in accordance with Saemaul principles and strategies can be transferred or applied to many other types of rural communities, including heterogeneous and multi-cultural communities, in developing countries. Secondly, it is also argued that Korean people are basically diligent and hardworking people by nature and their strong work ethic played an important role in Korea’s fast economic development as well as in the successful implementation of Saemaul Undong programs. However, ‘diligence’, as one of the three guiding principles and spirits of Saemaul Undong, was not an inherent cultural trait that the Korean people had inherited from the past. As a matter of fact, it was a new value system that Korean people were able to acquire through the participation in and practice of Saemaul Undong programs and movements. Thirdly, some previous studies also suggest that Saemaul Undong programs were authoritarian and state-led political projects or a set of policy programs which were administered in a unilateral and top-down manner. This line of reasoning leads them to conclude that Saemaul Undong was conservative and non-democratic. On the contrary, Saemaul Undong and its entire decision-making processes was a playground where the democratic principles and practices were practiced and entertained as well as educated. It is in this sense that we see the Saemaul Undong as a nationwide development movement embedded with a democratic approach and that we find significant elements of democracy and democratic practices at the grass roots level during the Saemaul Undong era.