Implications of Korea’s Saemaul Undong for International Development Policy: A Structural Perspective*

Development strategies based on neoliberal theories and good governance have failed to achieved clear outcomes. This paper examines the Saemaul Undong movement in Korea with the contention that it can provide a missing link between market- and state-oriented development policy. Saemaul Undong contributed to social and economic development in Korea not only as a self-help community movement but also as a mechanism of social inclusion. Its success was based on a social structure that was made more open to upward mobility by the land reform of the 1950s. A negative aspect of Saemaul Undong is that it was promoted by the government to mobilize political support for authoritarian President Park Chung Hee. In order to draw policy implications from Saemaul Undong for international development, it is necessary to consider the social and political context of the developing countries under consideration.