Government Roles for Community
Development in Korea
February 26, 2007
Maanee Lee
Professor, Dankook University
Government Roles for Community
Development in Korea
The government and local autonomies have played very important roles for
the effective implementation of community development programs in Korea.
Government roles include the preparation of blueprints and essential guidelines
of policy alternatives that can be agreed and undertaken by the people on a
voluntary basis.
Saemaul Undong, Korea's representative community development program,
was initiated by the government at the initial stage. Material projects
awakened the community members who succeeded in broadening the categories
of change-making activities with their growing can-do spirit. Most policy
contents pertaining to rural areas could be successfully committed with
interlinkages to the degree of villagers' participation in the movement. Public
organizations across the country continued to ignite the maximized contribution
by the people.
Efforts of government and community members have been gradually
systematized as much as to make the movement go on beyond political situation.
Strategies and various tools of the movement could be implicative and
recommendable to other countries.
CONTENTS
I. IMPLICATIONS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
A. Community
B. Community Development
II. FEATURES OF KOREA'S COMMUNITIES
A. Rural Villages
B. Urban Residences
C. Changes
III. KOREA'S GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE
IV. EVOLUTIONARY LANDMARKS OF RURAL
/AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES IN KOREA
V. CONTENTS OF SAEMAUL UNDONG
A. Environmental Improvement
B. Mental Development
C. Income Increasing
D. Spread and Derivatives
VI. GOVERNMENT ROLES FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
IN CASE OF KOREA'S SAEMAUL UNDONG
A. Need of Government Roles
B. Contents of Government Roles
C. Principles of Government Roles
D. System of Government Roles
E. Some Special Measures
E-1. President and Central Government
E-2. Local Governments
GOVERNMENT ROLES FOR
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN KOREA
Ⅰ. IMPLICATIONS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
A. Community
- Fields for human lives gathering to create and enjoy their
- individual/ common prosperity
- Made of physical/ mental resources and tangible/ intangible aspects of
human life
- Importer/ exporter of produces and culture
- Composer and partaker of national/ global competitiveness
- Producer/ supervisor as well as clients of government policies
B. Community Development
- Aimed at the improved quality of life of community members
- Undertake physical/ material projects and mental/ cultural programs
- Participated and led by community members themselves
- Mobilizing local resources and culture
Ⅱ. FEATURES OF KOREA'S COMMUNITIES
A. Rural Villages
- Comprising each cluster of households with a variety of sizes from less
than 20 to above 1,000 families
- Retaining the roles and characteristics of bottom community in historic,
socio- economic, cultural and security terms
- Becoming the origin of strong sense of hometown cherished and
maintained in the people's whole life
- Depending much on local government offices and agricultural/ fishery/
livestock cooperatives in attaining public services and information
※ Villagers used to mainly exchange information, communications and
commodities in local markets open every five days
B. Urban Residences
- Produce a family-based or job-based way of life pursuing the individual
gains
- Show the mixture of historical/ traditional remains and new outcomes in
most aspects of human life
- Provide better schooling conditions and more job opportunities than in
rural areas
- Face with some urban problems including traffic jam, pollution, juvenile
delinquencies, energy shortage, etc. particularly in metropolitan cities
C. Changes
- Rural and urban communities have changed a great deal since 1970's
- The Saemaul Undong(Movement) has remarkably contributed to the
development and revitalization of rural communities.
- Migration of rural people to urban cities, especially to Seoul and its
outskirts, has continued since 1960's
- Emerging of newly-built structures including skyscrapers and tall
apartments has brought about visible changes in people's way of life.
- Nationwide demand for qualified higher education and cultural services
among the people and the lack of effective government policies to meet it
have brought about the imbalance between metropolises and local
communities
- Promotion of social westernization and globalization has influenced much
on majority of youths
- The restoration of local autonomies in 1990's has propelled the
decentralization and the participatory democracy at local communities
- Mass-media and NGO programs have increased their influence upon
communities
Ⅲ. KOREA’S GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE
Central Gov't : ministries
metropolitan municipalities(7) provinces(9)
ward(KU) county(KUN) city(SI) county(KUN)
ward(KU)
block
(DONG)
town(EUP)
township(MYUN)
block
(DONG)
town(EUP)
township(MYUN)
sub-block
(TONG) village
(RI) sub-block
(TONG) village
(RI)
hamlet hamlet
- A metropolitan municipality should have more than one million people of
populace
- A city has to have more than 50 thousand people and urban structure
- A town(EUP) is to be resided by more than 20 thousand habitants or a
place with its county office located
: Executive and council members are elected by the people
: Executive and employees are appointed
: Representative selected by residents is designated as conveyor of
government services. In case of this KU, director and employees are
appointed by Mayor.
IV. EVOLUTIONARY LANDMARKS OF RURAL
/AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES IN KOREA
- The Japanese colonial government imposed Korean farmers to sell their
produce of more than 40 kinds to those Japanese agencies licensed by their
government.
- Since the proclamation of the amended Land Reform Act in March, 1950,
landlords and rich farm households who owned much farmland were
enforced to sell the poor farmers at low price their extra land beyond the
respective acreage legally allowed. As the result, the number of land
owners in the rural communities increased from 35% to more than 90% of
total farmhouses.
- The special agreement on the provision of American farm surplus
promulgated between Korea and the U.S.A. in 1955 helped lots of Korean
rural residents survive against such severe poverty following the Korean
War(1950-1953). Some agricultural products such as flour, cotton, etc.
were brought free to Korean villagers by 1970.
- Saemaul Undong, Korea's unique new community movement, started
across the country since 1971 when many rural people could not have three
meals a day. Villagers were inspired to perform a comprehensive
development project at community level. For instance a total length of
39,583 kilometers of community feeder roads were newly constructed
through the voluntary works by rural community members.
- The government agencies and private expertise exerted their best efforts to
create new species of rice to maximize the quantity of harvested grains. It
is in 1971 that they succeeded in making a historical record of gaining
more than 5,000 kilograms of rice at one hectare. The year of 1977 marked
the first self sufficiency of rice in Korea.
- Many people, however, continued to leave their rural home communities in
order to be engaged in industrialized areas. Old villagers and women
remained in the countryside, lowering the productivity and enthusiasm in
the agricultural sector.
- The Uruguay Round signed by 117 countries in 1994 became a really
heavy obstacle for Korean farmers to overcome, because Korea came to
open its agricultural market to the globe without its preparedness enough to
compete actively.
- Recently a variety of approaches have been taken to expand the market of
environment-friendly organic farm produce, which appears to increase
steadily beyond the existing 4% share of a nationwide whole market.
Ⅴ. CONTENTS OF SAEMAUL UNDONG
Environmental Improvement → Spiritual Awakening/Mental Development →
Income Increasing/Productivity Management → Cultural Enrichment
A. Environmental Improvement
- Projects are selected by villagers in the village meeting. At the initial
stage of the Movement, the Ministry of Home Affairs published a brochure
introducing some model programs for villagers' reference.
replacement of straw-thatch roofs into tile ones
enlargement of community entry roads
widening of village feeder roads and back lanes
repair of community well
rearrangement of laundry places
improvement of walls and fences
improvement and expansion of irrigation cannals
construction of community center
construction or improvement of community barnhouses
construction or improvement of bridges
improvement of sewages
construction or improvements of common workplaces
buildup of common stalls
- Materials such as cement and steel bars are provided by the government;
land is donated by rich families in many villages; labor is contributed by
other families.
- Details about this implementation of programs are decided in the village
meeting. Programs to be undertaken for the welfare of women are
discussed and resolved in the village female meeting.
B. Mental Development
- Mental awakening is pursued through the popular participation in
change-making programs which are represented by physical environmental
projects. The villagers get themselves awakened when they find the
successful outcomes of new community development programs in which
they take part.
- Three factors of mentality and behavioral patterns are especially
emphasized: diligence; selfhelp; mutual cooperation.
- New curricula and new methods are introduced in training of various
relevant people including community leaders as well as government
officials. Most of those who play leading roles not only in public but
non-governmental organizations are given chances to join the special
training programs.
- Various contents about the Movement are introduced in curricula of regular
schools.
C. Income Increasing
- Rural people who gained 'can-do spirit' through empirical participation in
the Movement ask the public authorities to support their income programs,
as they realize the need to increase their capital to implement larger
programs.
- Some income projects are introduced by the central and local governments,
which prepare informative programs for the villagers to understand and
initiate new profitable ones. Cash crops, livestock, horticulture, cottage
industries, etc. have been tried by the rural people in consideration of their
situation and capability.
- Technical/engineering guidance and training activities are undertaken for
income projects.
- Public loans are allocated with priority upon villages outstanding in the
Movement. The loans are preferred by the people due to the lower
interest rate and longer grace period.
- The Saemaul Community Bank, a small banking unit, is institutionalized in
each locality and some public/nonpublic organizations. Its businesses are
guaranteed by the law.
D. Spread and Derivatives
- The visible and tangible success in rural areas promoted the spread of the
Movement over the country as a whole. Urban people have followed to
bring 'Urban Saemaul Undong'. Residents of a block, employees of a
company, etc. commit themselves to the successful achievement of such
programs as community beautification, neighborhood charity, horizontal
networking, and the like.
- Business employees make use of the Movement for increasing the
productivity and quality management. The title of their performances is
'Business Saemaul' or 'Factory Saemaul'.
- Schools, primary and secondary, have their own programs for pupils or
students to breed 'Saemaul Spirit' and practise the Movement at school and
home. Colleges or universities are contributed to the Movement with
research programs and extension activities.
- The Saemaul Undong(Movement) has been developed and put into practise
by various networks of 'Saemaul Leaders' particularly responsible for
leading and continuing the Movement on a voluntary basis. They have
their own business activities or jobs, additionally serving or supporting
those programs which ask them to join to continue the Movement. They
are the members of such nationwide or local-level organizations as
Saemaul Leaders Association/ Women Saemaul Leaders Federation/
Business Saemaul Leaders Commission/ Saemaul Library Society/
Saemaul Fund Federation.
- Since the second half of 1990s the Saemaul leaders have tried to expand
and apply the information tools in their innovative approach to the
Movement. They are enjoying the 'Internet Saemaul Undong'.
Government organizations, central or local, help the rural communities
learn and utilize the new Saemaul programs enriched with information
technologies.
Ⅵ. GOVERNMENT ROLES FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
IN CASE OF KOREA'S SAEMAUL UNDONG
A. Need of Government Roles
- To stimulate and ignite the people's willpower and desire for the
development of their community on a voluntary basis
- To make up material/ financial resources required for the effective
development of rural villages
- To provide technical guidance activities in the course of people's
implementation of community works
- To find and enrich the leadership expected to be contributive to the
efficient development of communities
- To promote the affirmative environment for the villagers to perform and
enjoy those developmental changes
B. Contents of Government Roles
- Awaken and inspire the people's self-help efforts in order that more people
volunteer to take part in changing their own life and community
- Introduce and disseminate information and knowhows pertaining to the
planning and operation of various kinds of community projects
• Publish and distribute manuals and brochures on several standard/
pilot projects
• Cooperate with mass media in producing informative/ educational
programs
- Set up and innovatively manage some special institutes exclusively
responsible for training new cadets of development programs
- Provide the villagers with necessary/supportive helps such as financial aids,
grants in kind, engineering consulting, equipment leasing, etc.
• Give some selected villages some amount of essential materials like
cement/steel, etc.
• Guarantee the exemplary communities for being beneficiary of public
loans with good terms
- Institutionalize and systematize government activities and policies
C. Principles of Government Roles
- Ignite and inspire the villagers' voluntary participation and problem-solving
- Provide priority supports for self-helping villages on an incentive basis
- Administer all kinds of government programs with a clear principle which
aims at the development of grass-roots democracy
- Lay priorities upon the people's acceptance and practice of
scientific/innovative/ reasonable way of living
- Reflect and involve the respective localities and characteristics of
individual community in government support
- Conduct annual checkup and evaluation programs on community-unit
achievements, according to which every village is coordinated in its grade:
basic → self-help → self-reliant → self-managing → welfare
- Allow and acknowledge the inevitable changes in each community
development plan in connection with government policies
- Sustain and maintain the consistency and continuity of government policies
with political situation excluded
D. System of Government Roles
: coordination, preparation of guidelines
Economic Planning Board(Fiscal and Economy)/ Home Affairs/ Education/
Agriculture and Fisheries/ Trade and Industry/ Construction/ Health and Social
Affairs/ Communications/ Publicity/ Finance/ Science and Technology/
Agricultural Extension/ Forestry/ Procurement
Central commission
: comprehensive Planning
Governor/ Vice Governor/Education Superintendent/ Agricultural Extension
Director/ Agricultural/ Cooperative Head/ Agricultural Corporation Director/
Veterans' Representative/Broadcasting Director/ Forestry Cooperative Director/
Electric Corporation Director/ Local Construction Director/ Regional
Communications Director /University (College) Professors/ Agricultural
High-school Teachers
: comprehensive guidances
Mayor·country Chief/ Education Head/ Police Chief/ Rural Extension Director/
Agricultural Cooperative Director/ Agricultural High-school Principal/ Post
Office Director
Others needed
: integrated implementation
Town·Township Chief/ Police Chief/ School Principal/ Post Office Director/
Rural Extension Director/ Agricultural Cooperative Director/ Village Leader
Others needed
village·block(RI/DONG) development committee
Community head/ Representative of community-level non-governmental
organizations
Some members recommended by community assembly
E. Some Special Measures
E-1. President and Central Government
- President himself presided over a monthly cabinet meeting held only for
the report, discussion and relevant to the Movement
- Two to five community leaders together with directors of administrative
agencies helping those leaders were invited to present their success-failure
Provincial/metropolitan commission
city/ country commission
town/ township committee
stories in presence of President in a monthly economic situation report
meeting attended by cabinet members and some leading peoples of
economic programs.
- President, prime Minister and most ministers used to visit the rural
communities or project sites without notice in advance, particularly on
weekends or holidays.
- National or local rallies, attended by male and female community leaders
and their supporters, have been held every year, and several
success-makers were awarded with medals and prizes with some
gift-money for community projects.
- "SAEMAUL MEDALs OF AWARD", newly instituted, have been given to
outstanding community leaders and heroes of the Movement
- Many of major public works financed by the government sector have been
allocated as incentives for villages going ahead in the commitment of the
Movement.
E-2. Local Governments
- Various and diversified measures/ approaches have been exploited and put
into practice, following or considering the central polices
- Every local officials is responsible for guiding and helping some specific
villages in their execution of Saemaul projects
- Local autonomies pay expenditures for training programs for their
community leader and transport these transport these trainees round their
trips
- Community leaders' children attending the secondary schools are easily
provide with scholarship
- Some excellent leaders who outstand in most aspects of the Movement,
when they are personally regarded eligible to be a regional leader, have
been appointed as town/township administrative heads
Development in Korea
February 26, 2007
Maanee Lee
Professor, Dankook University
Government Roles for Community
Development in Korea
The government and local autonomies have played very important roles for
the effective implementation of community development programs in Korea.
Government roles include the preparation of blueprints and essential guidelines
of policy alternatives that can be agreed and undertaken by the people on a
voluntary basis.
Saemaul Undong, Korea's representative community development program,
was initiated by the government at the initial stage. Material projects
awakened the community members who succeeded in broadening the categories
of change-making activities with their growing can-do spirit. Most policy
contents pertaining to rural areas could be successfully committed with
interlinkages to the degree of villagers' participation in the movement. Public
organizations across the country continued to ignite the maximized contribution
by the people.
Efforts of government and community members have been gradually
systematized as much as to make the movement go on beyond political situation.
Strategies and various tools of the movement could be implicative and
recommendable to other countries.
CONTENTS
I. IMPLICATIONS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
A. Community
B. Community Development
II. FEATURES OF KOREA'S COMMUNITIES
A. Rural Villages
B. Urban Residences
C. Changes
III. KOREA'S GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE
IV. EVOLUTIONARY LANDMARKS OF RURAL
/AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES IN KOREA
V. CONTENTS OF SAEMAUL UNDONG
A. Environmental Improvement
B. Mental Development
C. Income Increasing
D. Spread and Derivatives
VI. GOVERNMENT ROLES FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
IN CASE OF KOREA'S SAEMAUL UNDONG
A. Need of Government Roles
B. Contents of Government Roles
C. Principles of Government Roles
D. System of Government Roles
E. Some Special Measures
E-1. President and Central Government
E-2. Local Governments
GOVERNMENT ROLES FOR
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN KOREA
Ⅰ. IMPLICATIONS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
A. Community
- Fields for human lives gathering to create and enjoy their
- individual/ common prosperity
- Made of physical/ mental resources and tangible/ intangible aspects of
human life
- Importer/ exporter of produces and culture
- Composer and partaker of national/ global competitiveness
- Producer/ supervisor as well as clients of government policies
B. Community Development
- Aimed at the improved quality of life of community members
- Undertake physical/ material projects and mental/ cultural programs
- Participated and led by community members themselves
- Mobilizing local resources and culture
Ⅱ. FEATURES OF KOREA'S COMMUNITIES
A. Rural Villages
- Comprising each cluster of households with a variety of sizes from less
than 20 to above 1,000 families
- Retaining the roles and characteristics of bottom community in historic,
socio- economic, cultural and security terms
- Becoming the origin of strong sense of hometown cherished and
maintained in the people's whole life
- Depending much on local government offices and agricultural/ fishery/
livestock cooperatives in attaining public services and information
※ Villagers used to mainly exchange information, communications and
commodities in local markets open every five days
B. Urban Residences
- Produce a family-based or job-based way of life pursuing the individual
gains
- Show the mixture of historical/ traditional remains and new outcomes in
most aspects of human life
- Provide better schooling conditions and more job opportunities than in
rural areas
- Face with some urban problems including traffic jam, pollution, juvenile
delinquencies, energy shortage, etc. particularly in metropolitan cities
C. Changes
- Rural and urban communities have changed a great deal since 1970's
- The Saemaul Undong(Movement) has remarkably contributed to the
development and revitalization of rural communities.
- Migration of rural people to urban cities, especially to Seoul and its
outskirts, has continued since 1960's
- Emerging of newly-built structures including skyscrapers and tall
apartments has brought about visible changes in people's way of life.
- Nationwide demand for qualified higher education and cultural services
among the people and the lack of effective government policies to meet it
have brought about the imbalance between metropolises and local
communities
- Promotion of social westernization and globalization has influenced much
on majority of youths
- The restoration of local autonomies in 1990's has propelled the
decentralization and the participatory democracy at local communities
- Mass-media and NGO programs have increased their influence upon
communities
Ⅲ. KOREA’S GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE
Central Gov't : ministries
metropolitan municipalities(7) provinces(9)
ward(KU) county(KUN) city(SI) county(KUN)
ward(KU)
block
(DONG)
town(EUP)
township(MYUN)
block
(DONG)
town(EUP)
township(MYUN)
sub-block
(TONG) village
(RI) sub-block
(TONG) village
(RI)
hamlet hamlet
- A metropolitan municipality should have more than one million people of
populace
- A city has to have more than 50 thousand people and urban structure
- A town(EUP) is to be resided by more than 20 thousand habitants or a
place with its county office located
: Executive and council members are elected by the people
: Executive and employees are appointed
: Representative selected by residents is designated as conveyor of
government services. In case of this KU, director and employees are
appointed by Mayor.
IV. EVOLUTIONARY LANDMARKS OF RURAL
/AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES IN KOREA
- The Japanese colonial government imposed Korean farmers to sell their
produce of more than 40 kinds to those Japanese agencies licensed by their
government.
- Since the proclamation of the amended Land Reform Act in March, 1950,
landlords and rich farm households who owned much farmland were
enforced to sell the poor farmers at low price their extra land beyond the
respective acreage legally allowed. As the result, the number of land
owners in the rural communities increased from 35% to more than 90% of
total farmhouses.
- The special agreement on the provision of American farm surplus
promulgated between Korea and the U.S.A. in 1955 helped lots of Korean
rural residents survive against such severe poverty following the Korean
War(1950-1953). Some agricultural products such as flour, cotton, etc.
were brought free to Korean villagers by 1970.
- Saemaul Undong, Korea's unique new community movement, started
across the country since 1971 when many rural people could not have three
meals a day. Villagers were inspired to perform a comprehensive
development project at community level. For instance a total length of
39,583 kilometers of community feeder roads were newly constructed
through the voluntary works by rural community members.
- The government agencies and private expertise exerted their best efforts to
create new species of rice to maximize the quantity of harvested grains. It
is in 1971 that they succeeded in making a historical record of gaining
more than 5,000 kilograms of rice at one hectare. The year of 1977 marked
the first self sufficiency of rice in Korea.
- Many people, however, continued to leave their rural home communities in
order to be engaged in industrialized areas. Old villagers and women
remained in the countryside, lowering the productivity and enthusiasm in
the agricultural sector.
- The Uruguay Round signed by 117 countries in 1994 became a really
heavy obstacle for Korean farmers to overcome, because Korea came to
open its agricultural market to the globe without its preparedness enough to
compete actively.
- Recently a variety of approaches have been taken to expand the market of
environment-friendly organic farm produce, which appears to increase
steadily beyond the existing 4% share of a nationwide whole market.
Ⅴ. CONTENTS OF SAEMAUL UNDONG
Environmental Improvement → Spiritual Awakening/Mental Development →
Income Increasing/Productivity Management → Cultural Enrichment
A. Environmental Improvement
- Projects are selected by villagers in the village meeting. At the initial
stage of the Movement, the Ministry of Home Affairs published a brochure
introducing some model programs for villagers' reference.
replacement of straw-thatch roofs into tile ones
enlargement of community entry roads
widening of village feeder roads and back lanes
repair of community well
rearrangement of laundry places
improvement of walls and fences
improvement and expansion of irrigation cannals
construction of community center
construction or improvement of community barnhouses
construction or improvement of bridges
improvement of sewages
construction or improvements of common workplaces
buildup of common stalls
- Materials such as cement and steel bars are provided by the government;
land is donated by rich families in many villages; labor is contributed by
other families.
- Details about this implementation of programs are decided in the village
meeting. Programs to be undertaken for the welfare of women are
discussed and resolved in the village female meeting.
B. Mental Development
- Mental awakening is pursued through the popular participation in
change-making programs which are represented by physical environmental
projects. The villagers get themselves awakened when they find the
successful outcomes of new community development programs in which
they take part.
- Three factors of mentality and behavioral patterns are especially
emphasized: diligence; selfhelp; mutual cooperation.
- New curricula and new methods are introduced in training of various
relevant people including community leaders as well as government
officials. Most of those who play leading roles not only in public but
non-governmental organizations are given chances to join the special
training programs.
- Various contents about the Movement are introduced in curricula of regular
schools.
C. Income Increasing
- Rural people who gained 'can-do spirit' through empirical participation in
the Movement ask the public authorities to support their income programs,
as they realize the need to increase their capital to implement larger
programs.
- Some income projects are introduced by the central and local governments,
which prepare informative programs for the villagers to understand and
initiate new profitable ones. Cash crops, livestock, horticulture, cottage
industries, etc. have been tried by the rural people in consideration of their
situation and capability.
- Technical/engineering guidance and training activities are undertaken for
income projects.
- Public loans are allocated with priority upon villages outstanding in the
Movement. The loans are preferred by the people due to the lower
interest rate and longer grace period.
- The Saemaul Community Bank, a small banking unit, is institutionalized in
each locality and some public/nonpublic organizations. Its businesses are
guaranteed by the law.
D. Spread and Derivatives
- The visible and tangible success in rural areas promoted the spread of the
Movement over the country as a whole. Urban people have followed to
bring 'Urban Saemaul Undong'. Residents of a block, employees of a
company, etc. commit themselves to the successful achievement of such
programs as community beautification, neighborhood charity, horizontal
networking, and the like.
- Business employees make use of the Movement for increasing the
productivity and quality management. The title of their performances is
'Business Saemaul' or 'Factory Saemaul'.
- Schools, primary and secondary, have their own programs for pupils or
students to breed 'Saemaul Spirit' and practise the Movement at school and
home. Colleges or universities are contributed to the Movement with
research programs and extension activities.
- The Saemaul Undong(Movement) has been developed and put into practise
by various networks of 'Saemaul Leaders' particularly responsible for
leading and continuing the Movement on a voluntary basis. They have
their own business activities or jobs, additionally serving or supporting
those programs which ask them to join to continue the Movement. They
are the members of such nationwide or local-level organizations as
Saemaul Leaders Association/ Women Saemaul Leaders Federation/
Business Saemaul Leaders Commission/ Saemaul Library Society/
Saemaul Fund Federation.
- Since the second half of 1990s the Saemaul leaders have tried to expand
and apply the information tools in their innovative approach to the
Movement. They are enjoying the 'Internet Saemaul Undong'.
Government organizations, central or local, help the rural communities
learn and utilize the new Saemaul programs enriched with information
technologies.
Ⅵ. GOVERNMENT ROLES FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
IN CASE OF KOREA'S SAEMAUL UNDONG
A. Need of Government Roles
- To stimulate and ignite the people's willpower and desire for the
development of their community on a voluntary basis
- To make up material/ financial resources required for the effective
development of rural villages
- To provide technical guidance activities in the course of people's
implementation of community works
- To find and enrich the leadership expected to be contributive to the
efficient development of communities
- To promote the affirmative environment for the villagers to perform and
enjoy those developmental changes
B. Contents of Government Roles
- Awaken and inspire the people's self-help efforts in order that more people
volunteer to take part in changing their own life and community
- Introduce and disseminate information and knowhows pertaining to the
planning and operation of various kinds of community projects
• Publish and distribute manuals and brochures on several standard/
pilot projects
• Cooperate with mass media in producing informative/ educational
programs
- Set up and innovatively manage some special institutes exclusively
responsible for training new cadets of development programs
- Provide the villagers with necessary/supportive helps such as financial aids,
grants in kind, engineering consulting, equipment leasing, etc.
• Give some selected villages some amount of essential materials like
cement/steel, etc.
• Guarantee the exemplary communities for being beneficiary of public
loans with good terms
- Institutionalize and systematize government activities and policies
C. Principles of Government Roles
- Ignite and inspire the villagers' voluntary participation and problem-solving
- Provide priority supports for self-helping villages on an incentive basis
- Administer all kinds of government programs with a clear principle which
aims at the development of grass-roots democracy
- Lay priorities upon the people's acceptance and practice of
scientific/innovative/ reasonable way of living
- Reflect and involve the respective localities and characteristics of
individual community in government support
- Conduct annual checkup and evaluation programs on community-unit
achievements, according to which every village is coordinated in its grade:
basic → self-help → self-reliant → self-managing → welfare
- Allow and acknowledge the inevitable changes in each community
development plan in connection with government policies
- Sustain and maintain the consistency and continuity of government policies
with political situation excluded
D. System of Government Roles
: coordination, preparation of guidelines
Economic Planning Board(Fiscal and Economy)/ Home Affairs/ Education/
Agriculture and Fisheries/ Trade and Industry/ Construction/ Health and Social
Affairs/ Communications/ Publicity/ Finance/ Science and Technology/
Agricultural Extension/ Forestry/ Procurement
Central commission
: comprehensive Planning
Governor/ Vice Governor/Education Superintendent/ Agricultural Extension
Director/ Agricultural/ Cooperative Head/ Agricultural Corporation Director/
Veterans' Representative/Broadcasting Director/ Forestry Cooperative Director/
Electric Corporation Director/ Local Construction Director/ Regional
Communications Director /University (College) Professors/ Agricultural
High-school Teachers
: comprehensive guidances
Mayor·country Chief/ Education Head/ Police Chief/ Rural Extension Director/
Agricultural Cooperative Director/ Agricultural High-school Principal/ Post
Office Director
Others needed
: integrated implementation
Town·Township Chief/ Police Chief/ School Principal/ Post Office Director/
Rural Extension Director/ Agricultural Cooperative Director/ Village Leader
Others needed
village·block(RI/DONG) development committee
Community head/ Representative of community-level non-governmental
organizations
Some members recommended by community assembly
E. Some Special Measures
E-1. President and Central Government
- President himself presided over a monthly cabinet meeting held only for
the report, discussion and relevant to the Movement
- Two to five community leaders together with directors of administrative
agencies helping those leaders were invited to present their success-failure
Provincial/metropolitan commission
city/ country commission
town/ township committee
stories in presence of President in a monthly economic situation report
meeting attended by cabinet members and some leading peoples of
economic programs.
- President, prime Minister and most ministers used to visit the rural
communities or project sites without notice in advance, particularly on
weekends or holidays.
- National or local rallies, attended by male and female community leaders
and their supporters, have been held every year, and several
success-makers were awarded with medals and prizes with some
gift-money for community projects.
- "SAEMAUL MEDALs OF AWARD", newly instituted, have been given to
outstanding community leaders and heroes of the Movement
- Many of major public works financed by the government sector have been
allocated as incentives for villages going ahead in the commitment of the
Movement.
E-2. Local Governments
- Various and diversified measures/ approaches have been exploited and put
into practice, following or considering the central polices
- Every local officials is responsible for guiding and helping some specific
villages in their execution of Saemaul projects
- Local autonomies pay expenditures for training programs for their
community leader and transport these transport these trainees round their
trips
- Community leaders' children attending the secondary schools are easily
provide with scholarship
- Some excellent leaders who outstand in most aspects of the Movement,
when they are personally regarded eligible to be a regional leader, have
been appointed as town/township administrative heads
