Saemaeul Undong

Korean spelling
Korean alphabet :	새마을 운동
Hanja :	- 運動
Revised Romanization :	Saemaul Undong
McCune-Reischauer :	Saemaŭl Undong

The Saemaeul Undong ( Korean : 새마을 운동 , German: New Village Campaign ) was initiated in 1970 by the South Korean President Park Chung-hee to raise the rural standard of living by activating self-initiative under the keywords "diligence", "self-help" and "cooperation" to increase.

The New Village movement was set up as a so-called rice-root democracy , that is, as a democratic activity among the population. The villagers were encouraged to form committees and decide on their own development program. The administration gave technical advice, lent machines and delivered building materials, provided that the villagers supplemented the state aid with their own work and their own material.

Improved cultivation methods increased rice and barley harvests by 54% over ten years. Small workshops emerged and in some villages silkworms, mushrooms and mussels were also grown. Houses were repaired on a large scale, thatched roofs were replaced by tiles and most of the rural households were connected to the power grid.

In 2013, at the request of Korea, the archives of the New Village Movement were included in the list of World Document Heritage by UNESCO under the entry "Archives of Saemaul Undong (New Community Movement)" .

See also

• Saemaeul train

Web links

• Saemaul Undong: Replication of best practice on rural development
• The example of South Korea
• University of Bremen: The "Korea Model"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Minjungs Korean-German Dictionary . Korean Society for German Studies, Seoul 1981, ISBN 978-89-387-0502-0 , p.  1354 f . (Korean, translation of the word 운동 ).
2. ^ Archives of Saemaul Undong (New Community Movement) | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved on August 26, 2017 .