CONTRIBUTIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF SAEMAUL UNDONG IN KOREA FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE IMPROVEMENT IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
| Published date | 01 October 2012 |
| Author | Pan Suk Kim,Soo Chul Lee,In Rib Baek |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1639 |
| Date | 01 October 2012 |
CONTRIBUTIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF SAEMAUL UNDONG IN
KOREA FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE
IMPROVEMENT IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
IN RIB BAEK, PAN SUK KIM*AND SOO CHUL LEE
Yonsei University, South Korea
SUMMARY
This study analyses Saemaul Undong (SMU; New Community or New Village Movement), a movement that inspired rural
residents and served as an impetus for economic development in the 1970s in Korea, to provide guidance for poverty alleviation
and local development for less developed countries on the basis of the Korean experience. By deploying discursive and trend
approachesto SMU, this study attempts to revealthe interaction between the macroscopic (state) mobilization and the microscopic
(civilian) participation in the SMU process. In addition, thestudy discusses SMU’s contributionsand limitations in order to reveal
some of the drawbacks of SMU as issues that need to be considered if a similar kind of movement is to be applied to other
developing countries. Copyright © 2012John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
key words—South Korea; development; poverty; developmental state; Saemaul Undong; New Village Movement
INTRODUCTION
South Korea (hereafter, Korea) achieved unprecedented economic development during 1960s–1970s under the Park
Jung-Hee administration (1961–1979).In 1960, the annual per capita income of Korea was only $80, but this rapidly
increased to $1546 by 1979 (Jun, 1984:243). Because the model of development was based on a government-driven
industrialization strategy to overcome extreme poverty, it has attracted much attention as a unique ‘South Korean
development model’(Gong and Cho, 2005).
The Developmental State Theory, as one of the strongest arguments emphasizing the role of the State, maintains
that the Korean state guided the private sector with strong state leadership and decision-making capability to achieve
the so-called ‘catch-up industrialization’(Johnson, 1985; Evans, 1995; Wade, 1990; Amsden, 1989; Lee, 2003).
Accordingly,the foundation of this theory is theconcept of a strong state and a weak society;in other words, the state’s
strong power is able to direct both markets and society (Evans,1995). Recent stories of development, however,have
challengedthis theory’s logic. Although otherless developed countries (LDCs)have implemented strong leadershipof
the state, it has notworked in the same way as in Korea because of differentdevelopment strategies of the state in other
settings and/or different capacities of the stateand society. This study aims to find out what has worked in Korea and
identify certain components of the Korean model lacking in other development stories.
In this respect, Saemaul Undong (hereafter, SMU) has emerged as a socially driven component of development
credited with increasing the social capital of Korean society.
1
As Putnam (1993a,1993b) has indicated, the differ-
ence in the availability of non-institutional capacities, such as social capital, may produce a meaningful difference
in a country’s development. SMU can be counted as such a component. In fact, countries looking for a regional
*Correspondence to: P. S. Kim, Institute for Poverty Alleviation and International Development (IPAID), Yonsei University, Wonju Campus,
Wonju 220-710, South Korea. E-mail: pankim@gmail.com
1
SMU has been well received by the United Nations as one of the efficient rural development models in the world. For example, the Economic
Commission for Africa has selected SMU as a base model for the Sustainable Modernization of Agriculture and Rural Transformation
programme in 2008. See more details at http://www.uneca.org/eca_resources/press_releases/2008_pressreleases/pressrelease4908.htm
public administration and development
Public Admin. Dev. 32, 416–429 (20122012)
Published online in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pad.1639
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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