Korea's cleanliness

By Ranjit Kumar Dhawan

One of the biggest differences between a developed and a developing country is cleanliness. It is often said that, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Mahatma Gandhi regarded cleanliness as an important duty of human life. But a large number of people in developing countries die due to unclean environments and poor hygiene.

One very pleasant experience in Korea for a foreign visitor, particularly those from any developing country, is the cleanliness. Korean public spaces and market places maintain high standards of cleanliness. The hospitals, bus stations, post offices, schools, universities, offices, etc, in Korea are perfectly clean.

However, before the economic transformation of Korea, the country looked almost like any other developing country of today. Pollution and unhygienic conditions were rampant in Korea in the 1950s. The Han River was like a drain that carried the filth and waste from the rapid industrialization drive. But Korea created the “Miracle on the Han River” and it is one of the cleanest nations on earth. This level of cleanliness was achieved through the efforts of both state and society.

From the Saemaul Undong movement that brought clean and hygienic conditions to the villages to mobilizing schoolchildren in the cleanliness drive in classes, Korea made cleanliness not only the responsibility of the government but that of every citizen. Also, hefty fines were imposed for littering and throwing away garbage not separated for recycling.

Compared with Korea, India has not achieved a high level of cleanliness. Indian rivers and cities remain highly polluted. On August 15, 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the nation from the historic Red Fort, raised the issue of public hygiene and sanitation.

Modi has created the “Clean India” campaign as one of the important goals of his administration. But two years since the start of this campaign, public sanitation in India has not improved much. The slow progress is mainly due to the following reasons:

Firstly, unlike Korea that mobilizes even schoolchildren for the cleanliness drive to inculcate the values of a healthy environment and to change the culture and orientation of the people towards cleanliness, in India similar efforts might be blamed for promoting child labor.

Secondly, while Korea successfully conducted land reforms, India’s similar efforts remain a failure and a large part of the country is still under the feudal system. Removal of waste is seen as a degrading job in India that is mostly done by people of lower castes. These people also constitute the majority of landless laborers. Therefore, a Saemaul Undong kind of mass movement for rural transformation that is based on the equitable status of citizens is not possible in India.

Thirdly, unlike Korea, which imposes hefty fines for littering and not separating waste from recyclable materials, the Indian government has not yet come out with a similar policy. As a result, biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes are often mixed in India, leading to difficulties in proper waste management and recycling.

Therefore, the cleanliness drive in Korea is difficult to replicate in India and other developing countries. However, innovations by Korean researchers with regard to toilet technology that could prevent water wastage and bring about more effective disposal of human waste would immensely benefit developing countries. Similarly, cheaper methods for filtering water would save millions of people in the developing world from water-borne diseases.

The author teaches at the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi, India. His email address is rkdhawan13@hotmail.com