Saemaul Undong Archives : There Is No Development without Education

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There Is No Development without Education

Saemaul Training Examined through the First Training of the Exemplary Farms Institute in 1972

1976年

The Miracle Started by Elite from Seoul

Mr. Jeon Young-woo, Teaching Local Leaders Who Visited Changso 1-ri

Mr. Jeon Young-woo, Teaching Local Leaders Who Visited Changso 1-ri

It took only six years for Changso-1 ri to develop into an exemplary village. What is more surprising is the background of the leader, Mr. Jeon. He is a man who moved from city to rural area dreaming of a romantic life in the farming village having no knowledge of farming. He was part of the elite who graduated from Korea University, but he had no knowledge or experience of farming. After much meandering, he rebuilt the vinyl greenhouses used for growing vegetables, and gave a return with high income for the villagers. He also achieved a stable distribution of agricultural products. What was the secret behind this development?

Foster Rural Leaders

Behind the Saemaul Undong spreading across the country like a wildfire in the 1970s was the Saemaul Leaders Training Institute. From 1972 to 1980, the institute was the cradle of the Saemaul Undong, which trained about 54,000 trainees including government officials, businessmen, women, university professors, and university students.

However, the foundation of the Saemaul Leaders Training Institute was established in 1972, at the Exemplary Farms Institute (‘Doknong-Ga’ Institute in Korean). "Doknong-Ga" means an exemplary household which arduously carries out farming. As the name suggests, the Doknong-Ga Institute is an organization that was created to educate leaders for the construction of independence and self-help cooperative farm villages.

Mr. Jeon Yong-woo is one of the trainees of the first training of Exemplary Farms Institute. He cultivated qualities as a rural leader through a two-week group camp. It was the power of education which transformed poor Changso-1 ri into a high-income farm village.

“I learned about Saemaul Undong here. At that time, the head of the institute taught us some principles. What would be the amount of water that goes out of a wide pipe, then through a narrow pipe and then out of a wide pipe again? Oh, regardless of the width of the wide one, the maximum will be set by the narrow one. So what should we do? Should we pressurize here? Oh, if you pressurize it, then it will pop. Then he said that if you know that, then it’s fine. The Saemaul Undong is not making the thick part even thicker, but it is making up for the weakest parts. I went back to my hometown to find the weakest part of our neighborhood. I even looked into the sewer, but I found it in my bed. I realized the weakest part is the economy part when I lay down. You have to earn money to live well. Then I went out to earn money.”

Exemplary Farms Institute That Cultivated Leaders with Strict Schedule Management

The days in the institute are very strict and regular. Every trainee should wake up at 6:00 am and go to bed at 10:00 pm. No going out, no contact with the outside, no newspapers, telephone, nor radio are permitted. Everyone should follow a tight schedule regardless of social status. The curriculum consists of farming technology, cooperative agricultural movements, Saemaul living-conditions improvement projects, general education, Saemaul spirit, discussion of the allotted tasks, and success stories.

Among them, the presentation of success stories and discussion on the allotted tasks were very meaningful for the trainees. They listened to best practices that raised farm income or succeeded in improving the environment. In the evening they had an ardent debate about what to do for the development of their village. The debate enabled trainees to mull over the fundamental problems and find answers by themselves. The issues that trainees discussed were as follows: the reason why their village is so needy; the most necessary business for their villages; the way to induce people to unify, and so on.

[Photographs] the class completion album for commemorating the first class’s completion of Exemplary Farms training

Even after the training, Saemaul training continued. Leaders returned to their hometowns and received follow-up care of on-site problems they encountered through correspondence with the training director and instructors by mail. And a leader who developed his own village after receiving education was reborn as an evangelist of Saemaul Undong. That is the case of Jeon Young-woo, who was selected as a head of on-site lifestyle training

1973年

Make Exemplary Farms institute the Cradle of Saemaul Undong

In 1973, the government spurred the training of leaders by expanding Exemplary Farms Institute to the Saemaul Leaders Training Institute. The trainees consisted of not only rural leaders but also social leaders such as public servants, professors, and businessmen. Women and college students were also included. It was two weeks, which can be considered both short and long, but it was enough time to have the reformative spirit of 'Candoism' and the hope of living affluently. This was because that if leaders managed to return to their villages after training, they would no longer be reckless challengers. So, they made concrete plans, served with the spirit of initiative, and induced inhabitants’ cooperation, thereby achieving many objectives one-by-one.

If it were not the furnace of education which continued to Saemaul Leaders Training Institute from Exemplary Farms Institute, the flame of nationwide Saemaul Undong would not have emerged.

Audiovisuals

Eliminating Thatched Houses as well as Widening the Village Roads

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