View source for Saemaul Undong

{{Short description|1970 South Korean economic initiative}}
{{Infobox Korean name/auto
|img=새마을기.svg
|caption=Saemaul Flag
|hangul=^새마을 운동
|hanja=새마을運動
}}
[[File:교육 사진.jpg|thumb|250px|Education of Saemaul leaders]]
{{South Korean economy}}
The '''Saemaul Undong''' ({{Korean|hangul=새마을 운동}}), also known as the '''New Community Movement''', '''New Village Movement''', '''Saemaul Movement''' or '''Saema'eul Movement''', was a political initiative launched on April{{nbsp}}22, 1970 by South Korean president [[Park Chung Hee]] to modernize the rural [[South Korean economy]]. The idea was based on the Korean traditional communalism called ''[[Hyangyak]]'' ({{Korean|hangul=향약|hanja=鄕約|labels=no}}) and ''[[Doorae|Dure]]'' ({{Korean|hangul=두레|labels=no}}), which provided the rules for [[self-governance]] and cooperation in traditional Korean communities. The movement initially sought to rectify the growing disparity of the [[standard of living]] between the nation's urban centers, which were rapidly industrializing, and the small villages, which continued to be mired in poverty. Diligence, self-help and collaboration were the slogans to encourage community members to participate in the development process. The early stage of the movement focused on improving the basic living conditions and environments, whereas later projects concentrated on building rural [[infrastructure]] and increasing community [[income]].<ref>{{cite web |title=South Korea - The Agricultural Crisis of the Late 1980s |url= http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-12321.html|publisher= www.countrydata.com |access-date=13 July 2009}}</ref> Though hailed as a great success by force in the 1970s, the movement lost momentum during the 1980s due to the unexpected [[assassination of Park Chung Hee]].

==Overview==
The movement promoted [[self-help]] and [[collaboration]] among the people during its first phase, as the central government provided a fixed amount of [[raw material]]s to each of the participating villages free of charge and entrusted the locals to build whatever they wished with them. The government first selected 33,267 villages and provided 335 sacks of cement. 16,600 villages that demonstrated success were then granted additional resources of 500 sacks of cement and a ton of iron bars.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eng.pohang.go.kr/site/eng/introduction/movement/historical/index.html|title=The historical background behind the New Community Movement|work=Pohang Municipal Government|access-date=30 October 2017|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107013124/http://eng.pohang.go.kr/site/eng/introduction/movement/historical/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The New Community Movement did much to improve [[infrastructure]] in rural South Korea, bringing modernized facilities such as [[irrigation system]]s, [[bridge]]s and [[road]]s in rural communities. The program also marked the widespread appearance of orange tiled houses throughout the countryside, replacing the traditional [[thatched]] or ''choga-jip'' houses. Encouraged by the success in rural areas, the movement spread through [[factories]] and urban areas as well, and became a nationwide [[modernization]] movement.

However, despite the Saemaul Movement's great success in reducing [[poverty]] and improving [[living conditions]] in rural areas during its first phase, income levels in urban areas were still higher than income levels in rural areas after the rapid [[industrialization]] of South Korea. The government-led movement with its highly [[centralized]] organization proved to be efficient in the 1970s and early 1980s, but it became less effective after South Korea entered into a more [[Developed country|developed]] and industrialized stage, which diminished the momentum of the movement. The relatively low income levels in rural areas compared to urban areas became a major political issue in the late 1980s – one that no government intervention was able to fully solve during the first phase – and the movement proved ultimately inadequate in addressing the larger problem of [[rural migration|migration from the villages to the cities]] by the country's younger demographic.<ref>{{cite book |title= Rural Development in South Korea: A Sociopolitical Analysis |last= Boyer |first= William |author2=Byong Man Anh |year= 1991 |publisher= University of Delaware Press |location= London |pages= 75–76 }}</ref> Moreover, the government-led centralized system caused [[corruption]], such as misuse of funding, and changed South Korea's environment.

Recognizing these problems, the [[South Korean government]] changed the centralized structure of the movement by empowering [[civil society]] to lead the movement. Since 1998, the Saemaul Movement has entered into the second phase, focusing on new issues such as enhancing voluntary services in the community and international cooperation with [[developing countries]].

Many developing countries in Africa are paying attention to the implications of the Saemaul Undong.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All publications |url=https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/SaemaulUndongReedSept2010FINAL.pdf |website=[[The Asia Foundation]] |access-date=2020-02-04 |archive-date=2018-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103200054/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/SaemaulUndongReedSept2010FINAL.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=May 2024}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Seitz |first=Martin |date=October 20, 2017 |title=South Korea's Saemaul Undong in Africa |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/south-koreas-saemaul-undong-in-africa/ |work=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]]}}</ref> Through the program such as Yonsei-KOICA Master's Degree Program, the Korean government is helping officials working in developing countries to design and implement new policies and programs in the context of national development policies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Koica |url=https://koica.yonsei.ac.kr/contents/about.htm?id=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226004330/https://koica.yonsei.ac.kr/contents/about.htm?id=3 |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |website=koica.yonsei.ac.kr}}</ref><ref>[http://www.koica.go.kr/sites/koica_kr/down/%EC%84%9D%EC%82%AC%ED%95%99%EC%9C%84%EC%97%B0%EC%88%98_%EA%B0%80%EC%9D%B4%EB%93%9C%EB%9D%BC%EC%9D%B8.pdf KOICA 석사학위연수 가이드라인]</ref>

A 2022 study attributed the initiative with shoring up support for [[Park Chung Hee]]'s authoritarian regime. The initiative had persistent effects, leading to greater support for the dictator's daughter when she was democratically elected in 2012.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=In Strongman We Trust: The Political Legacy of the New Village Movement in South Korea |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12716 |journal=American Journal of Political Science|year=2022 |doi=10.1111/ajps.12716 |last1=Hong |first1=Ji Yeon |last2=Park |first2=Sunkyoung |last3=Yang |first3=Hyunjoo |volume=67 |issue=4 |pages=850–866 |s2cid=251297631 |hdl=2027.42/191373 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==Basic steps==
The Korea Saemaul Undong Center explains how Saemaul Undong was practiced in the 1970s in South Korea in five steps:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.saemaul.or.kr/eng/sub/whatSMU/definition.php|title=Five Steps of Saemaul Undong|website=Korea Saemaul Undong Center|access-date=30 October 2017}}</ref>

Step 1. Basic Arrangements 
#Three elements of Saemaul Undong: people, seed money, basic principles
#Forming a Core Group 1: Leaders
#Forming a Core Group 2: Working groups
#Incorporating a Core Group 3: Existing organizations
#Forming a Core Group 4: Sectoral organizations
#Raising Seed Money 1: Through sample cooperative projects
#Raising Seed Money 2: Through cooperative works

Step 2: Operation of Projects 
#Establishing principles and standards for selecting projects
#Planning a project
#Persuading villagers 1: Setting a model to villagers
#Persuading villagers 2: Encouraging 'you can do it' spirit
#Collecting consensus 1: Small group meetings
#Collecting consensus 2: General meeting of villagers
#Letting everybody play a part
#Preparing and managing public property
#Establishing the local Saemaul Movement Center
#Encouraging 'we are the one' spirit
#Cooperating with other communities and the government

Step 3: Main Stage of Project Operation 
#Project 1 for living environment improvement: Improving the houses
#Project 2 for living environment improvement: Eliminating inconveniences in the village
#Project 3 for living environment improvement: Creating an environment for increasing income
#Project 1 for income increase: Removing the obstacles
#Project 2 for income increase: Launching cooperative projects
#Project 3 for income increase: Commercializing things around you
#Project 4 for income increase: Introducing new ideas
#Project 5 for income increase: Modifying distribution system
#Project 6 for income increase: Operating a factory
#Consolidating community 1: Enhancing morals and communalism
#Consolidating community 2: Providing a cultural center and other facilities
#Consolidating community 3: Establishing a credit union

Step 4: Final Stage of the Project
#Sharing the results and celebrating the success
#Sharing the long-term prospects
#Stabilizing of joint funds
#Encouraging the Activities of sectional organizations
#Regularizing meetings for technology research
#Establishing a village hall
#Publishing a local newspaper
#Establishing a partnership with other regions and government offices
#Setting up a sisterhood relationship with foreign countries
Step 5: Feedback at National Level
# The government creates a favorable environment
# The government provides supplies and funds
# The government establishes a comprehensive support system
# The government provides intensive information and technology education at the Saemaul Training Center

== Criticism ==
During the late 1960s and 1970s when the policy started being implemented under the regime of President Park, local traditions and beliefs were suppressed, akin to the [[Cultural Revolution]] in communist China which happened at the same time. The movement ''[[Misin tapa undong]]'' ("to defeat the worship of gods"), also described as "movement to destroy superstition") reached its peak during the ''Saemaul Undong'' period. Old [[zelkova]] trees that had stood at village entrances and have traditionally served as guardian figures were cut down in order to erase "superstition".<ref>{{cite web |title=Koreana : Korean culture & arts |url=http://www.koreana.or.kr/months/news_view.asp?b_idx=2243&lang=en&page_type=list |website=www.koreana.or.kr}}</ref> Practitioners of [[Korean shamanism]] were harassed, essentially destroying centuries old Korean traditions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Koreana : Korean culture & arts |url=http://www.koreana.or.kr/months/news_view.asp?b_idx=2244&lang=en&page_type=list |website=www.koreana.or.kr}}</ref>

In addition, Saemaul Undong meetings were often used to identify political dissidents and reinforce dedication to Park's military regime.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seo Jungmin |last2=김성문 |year=2015 |title=Civil Society under Authoritarian Rule: ''Bansanghoe'' and Extraordinary Everyday-ness in Korean Neighborhoods |url=https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART001972898 |journal=[[Korea Journal]] |volume=55 |pages=59–85 |doi=10.25024/kj.2015.55.1.59 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Under The Presidential Trust Commission, it was found that 334 individuals were killed, 1,744 were killed{{clarification needed|date=April 2023}}, and 7,328 people were falsely incarcerated largely due to expressing anti-government beliefs in connection to Saemaul Udong.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pathways to Transitional Justice in the Arab World ― the Asia Pacific Experience |url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/pathways-transitional-justice-arab-world-asia-pacific-experience}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2023}}

==See also==
* [[Order of Saemaeul Service Merit]]
* [[Demographics of South Korea]]
* [[Economy of South Korea]]
* [[History of South Korea]]
* [[Chollima Movement]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Saemaul Undong}}
*{{Official website|http://www.saemaul.or.kr/}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Political history of South Korea]]
[[Category:Economic history of South Korea]]
[[Category:1970 establishments in South Korea]]
[[Category:Agriculture in South Korea]]
[[Category:Rural economics]]
[[Category:Park Chung Hee]]