ANALYSIS OF SAEMAUL UNDONG: A KOREAN RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN THE 1970s

Globally, more than 1.2 billion people are still living in extreme poverty on one dollar a day.1 Though much progress has been made, reducing poverty remains a colossal task (World Bank 2000, p. 17). The case of the Republic of Korea in this circumstance is worth mentioning. The Republic of Korea has achieved remarkable socio-economic development and reduced extreme poverty, which had plagued the country for a very long time. Until now, it is the only country in the world that has overcome the three common hardships observed in most developing countries: civil wars or internal conflicts; a colonial legacy; and extreme poverty. In 1953, the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of the Republic of Korea was $73, and this increased to $21,695 in 2007.2 In 1965, 40.9 per cent of the population suffered from absolute poverty, but the poverty rate was reduced to 10.9 per cent by 2007.3 Saemaul Undong was a community-based integrated rural development programme of the Republic of Korea in the 1970s which contributed to narrowing the developmental gap between urban cities and rural communities over a decade. Its success can be attributed to its implementation of basic strategies of poverty reduction adapting to and making use of the Korean contexts—promoting opportunities and facilitating empowerment for rural people. Forty years ago, the people who designed and implemented Saemaul Undong did not have a clear understanding of the concepts and vocabularies that are broadly used in development today. What they promoted, achieved and implemented, however, was not different from the goals, objectives and methodologies that development practitioners promote today. The most important lesson learned from Saemaul Undong are that it devised appropriate strategies and measures reflecting and making use of the specific political, economic and social contexts. Developing countries should carefully study their own situation and devise workable and practical solutions of their own.