By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The Saemaeul Movement, a governmental post-war rural development campaign throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, was introduced to a United Nations affiliate as a program that has helped the country narrow economic gaps between rural and urban areas.
Park Soo-young, a staff member of the Korea International Cooperation Agency, wrote "Analysis of the New Community Movement: A Korean Rural Development Program" on the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific's (UNESCAP) January journal.
In the journal, he said that the movement had contributed not only economically but also to Korean society as a whole.
"It was a community-based integrated rural development program," Park said.
Yet, it changed into a national campaign. The campaign brought about meaningful improvements in society, infrastructure, accountability of local governments and the empowerment of villagers.
"Its success can be attributed to its implementation of basic strategies of poverty reduction by facilitating the empowerment of the rural people," Park said.
"The most important lesson learned from the movement is that Korea devised appropriate strategies and measures under its specific political, economic and social contexts. Developing countries should carefully study their own situation and devise their own workable and practical plan."
Park has worked for UNESCAP between 2006 and 2007.
The National Council of Saemaeul Movement is a member of the UN Department of Public Information (UNDPI) and the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
According to the North Gyeongsang provincial government, around 40,000 public officials and agricultural experts from more than 70 countries have participated in training courses at Saemaeul-related agencies and local government institutions. They include China and Vietnam, which have already started experimenting with the movement.