Saemaul Leader Minister the ‘Human Bulldozer’

In the 1970s, the Saemaul Undong became a national movement thanks to the interest and active participation of the leaders of society. The dedication of the religious figures whose spirit of sacrifice and service led the independence of the local residents was no small factor. One of them is Rev. Park In-Hwan, who started the Saemaul Undong Movement in a poor island village.

An insane person, an overly adventurous person, a man of push and go, Mr. Park. The residents of the village called Rev. Park all these things. However, ten years later, his nickname was changed to "a human bulldozer, a hero, a pioneer, an evergreen". He led the Saemaul Undong at his first place of duty for his ministerial position at the age of 30. He was the center of community cooperation and solidarity there.

Rev. Park In-hwan, who is a law school graduate, chose the path to become a pastor rather than becoming a lawyer. In 1967, he chose Seogmo-li, Samsan-Myun, Ganghwa-goon, which was a poor place, as his first place of duty. The salary was only about one mal (about 18 liters) of rice (KRW 500 in cash) a month, but he went there, saying that even that was high.

The Hangpo Church he served was a 10-pyong-wide (about 33.3 m²) chapel by the cemetery, which was noisy due to the North Korean megaphone broadcasts against South Korea. Quite a few pastors left the island as soon as they arrived because they could not bear this environment. Rev. Park taught hymns to the children by playing a harmonium considering the high illiteracy rate there, and he also operated a village library with a focus on agricultural books.

The first thing Pastor Park tried for the village was educational work. He used the shabby 10-pyung-wide thatched-roof chapel as a kindergarten to raise awareness of the children in the neighborhood. At the same time, he gathered young people who could not enter school at night and taught secondary-school-level materials. After the children left, the smell of their feet stank to high heaven but Rev. Park fell asleep as if he was smelling perfume.

As the number of students increased, Pastor Park decided to rebuild churches and schools in a modern way. The Pastor spoke to the church members who opposed him, "I will build a church even by selling my eyes". However, 5,550 pieces of earth bricks, which were piled up over several months, were blown over by a gust of wind and melted by the snow and rain. He went to the hospital to sell one eye to gather money, but there was no chance.

Pastor Park did not get frustrated. He went on a fund-raising campaign again to fund the construction and built a decent new church. He threw open it as a space for residents. After that, he realized the need for Saemaul Undong and began to broaden the road of the town as the first project. When Pastor Park started hoeing, people started to gather and soon all the residents came to hoe and shovel. After that, he established a Maeul Geumgo as body for economic independence. They built village stores with joint funds and built a cooperative workplace by connecting electricity to the village.

There was a reason why Pastor Park carried out a Saemaul Leader Activity as a religious person. This is because the spirit of diligence of the Saemaul Undong is closely related to the Christian ideal. By thinking "the man who follows God should be industrious and an industrious man should live well",