During the foundation and groundwork phase, the Saemaul spirit was ignited at the prospect of promoting communal projects through the self-help of villagers. At the same time, the overall directions of the SU movement were established through pilot projects. The policy devised in 1972 to provide preferential support to outstanding villages was aimed at encouraging villagers to participate in the SU movement, while outstanding villages were selected based on criteria such as whether a village had a Saemaul Leader, a community cooperation system and a history of raising its own funds. The SU movement convinced villagers that their participation will result in the development of their own village and favorable outcomes for themselves as individuals.

During the self-help development phase, the waves of the SU movement permeated into all parts of society and spread throughout the country with active participation at national level. From 1974, the movement developed beyond the stage where it was ignited and instigated by the government into one driven by autonomous participation. Expansion of production bases, discovery of income sources outside farms and wage projects were implemented as core tasks while focusing on increasing production income. Finally, farm household income almost caught up with urban household income and independent cultivation of crops became possible, resulting in actual changes and substantial achievements. In particular, it was during this phase that an effective social base was built by providing Saemaul Undong Training to high-ranking officials and social leaders which helped to create a consensus between public opinion leaders.

During this phase, the SU movement completed building the foundation for rural self-reliance by achieving advanced development. In 1977, the Factory Saemaul Undong Headquarters was established, while all villages achieved self-reliance by 1979 which enabled reclassification of villages into self-reliant, self-supporting and welfare villages according to their level of development. In 1980, the Saemaul Undong Central Headquarters was established for civilian-led implementation of the movement and Saemaul Cooperative Daycare Centers were installed nationwide.