Keynote Speech
by H.E. Cho Tae-yul
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Korea
at the Workshop on Rural Development Policies:
Lessons from Korea’s Saemaul Undong
and Other Country Experiences

24 October, 2014
Ewha Womans University, Seoul

Director Mario Pezzini,
Ambassador Lee Sihyung,
Prof. Kim Eun Mee,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to offer my warm welcome to all of you, who have been working closely with us for global poverty reduction in general and rural development in particular. I am proud that Korea, once one of the poorest countries in the world, has now become a full-fledged member of the OECD and combines efforts with the OECD to contribute to the rural development in developing countries. It is also with a sense of personal achievement that I address this important gathering as I played my due part in pursuing this joint project from the very beginning.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Mario Pezzini, Dr. Carl Dahlman and the OECD team for having so willingly provided research resources for this meaningful joint project on Saemaul Undong.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When it comes to the global efforts to eradicate poverty, agricultural and rural development have always been a missing link. Since the 1980s, the interests of the international community in, and its aid volume for, agriculture in developing countries have continued to decline. Furthermore, in addressing the issue of poverty, the MDGs did not draw a particular distinction between urban and rural areas, home to 75 percent of the world’s poorest.

A lack of interest in rural development has resulted in deteriorating conditions in the rural areas and a worsening food situation in developing countries. In 1999, the volume of emergency food aid to developing countries exceeded the amount of agriculture-related ODA, an ironical phenomenon. And regrettably, this trend continued and even intensified thereafter.

Fortunately, however, since the 2000s, there has been growing awareness of the importance of agricultural and rural development. Such recognition of the international community is clearly reflected in the adoption of the 2003 Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security which set out the commitment of African countries to allocate 10 percent of their annual budget on agriculture, the holding of the 2006 African Fertilizer Summit, and the launch of the l'Aquila Food Security Initiative in 2009 which aimed to increase agricultural productivity rather than to provide a posteriori food assistance.

Last year, the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates emphasized that increased agricultural productivity is key to the eradication of poverty around the world. It should also be noted that the Proposal of the Open Working Group for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which was submitted to the UN General Assembly last September, included the promotion of sustainable agriculture as the second goal, along with food security and improved nutrition.

Rural development is closely interlinked not only with food security and nutrition, but also with the cross-cutting issues for poverty reduction such as gender equality, education, and maternal and child health. An analysis by the World Bank concluded that GDP growth generated in agriculture is at least twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth generated by other sectors. As such, there is growing consensus that rural development is one of the most important domains that should be highlighted in the post-2015 development agenda where we place an emphasis on inclusiveness.

Indeed, revisiting Saemaul Undong is in line with such an increased recognition of the importance of agricultural and rural development. The reason why most of the developing countries wishing to share Korea’s development experience have shown particular interest in the success of Saemaul Undong is simply because they recognize that rural development is a critical link to poverty reduction.

But the truth is that despite its critical role in Korea’s poverty reduction and ever-strengthening enthusiasm among developing countries to share the experience and lessons learned, the value of Saemaul Undong has not been fully recognized.

In fact, Saemaul Undong was considered as a part of Korea’s social governance, rather than a mere rural development program. Therefore, it has been assessed mainly from a socio-political perspective, not as an effective development model from the perspective of poverty reduction. Against this backdrop, the partnership between MOFA and the OECD is all the more meaningful as our joint efforts to review Saemaul Undong and to identify policy implications and lessons learned will be of great use for other developing countries in establishing their development strategies.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Saemaul Undong played a tremendous part in poverty reduction and rural development in Korea in the 1970s. One of its unique characteristics as a comprehensive rural development program is that Saemaul Undong was implemented under the strong government and system-wide support that encompassed the entire spectrum of development policies, with a view to improving the overall living conditions of the rural populations, rather than just aiming to promote agriculture.

The achievements of Sameul Undong include the expansion of village infrastructure, improvements in overall living conditions in rural areas, and a significant rise in rural household incomes. The increase in rural household incomes was particularly remarkable. Annual rural household incomes increased with an average growth of 21 percent, from 825 dollars in 1970 to 4,602 dollars in 1979.

This remarkable success of Saemaul Undong is attributable to various factors such as land reform, education, a sense of ownership and a long-standing tradition of cooperation on the part of villagers, a strong determination on the part of government, and effective institutions. In addition, the 1970s was the period when the basis for industrialization was already laid out, making it possible to mobilize resources for modernizing rural areas.

However, in my opinion, one of the most decisive factors of its success was ‘motivation’. The central government signed contracts directly with villages for the construction of the infrastructure such as bridges and reservoirs necessary for the local community. Villagers provided the labor force for this construction and, doing so, earned income. Some part of this income was set aside as a form of village funds and these funds were used for other agricultural projects such as beekeeping and farming, which yielded further profits. Earning wages, improvement of living conditions, and an increase in funds for agricultural projects created a virtuous circle.

The expectation for an increased income as well as improved living conditions motivated the rural population to take ownership and assume an active role in rural development projects. Had Saemaul Undong only been driven and compelled by the government, it would not have been sustained for more than a decade and achieved the remarkable results. Witnessing a ‘can-do’ spirit translate into tangible achievements, people were motivated to become ‘agents of change’ and actively take part in improving their life. I firmly believe that this mental aspect of Saemaul Undong deserves greater attention.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Saemaul Undong has already been applied in a number of countries with or without Korea’s support, and produced significant results. Countries have adapted Saemaul Undong to reflect the particular circumstances of their own as seen in the cases of Vietnam and the Philippines.

Such creative application of Saemaul Undong in various forms in many countries should come as no surprise. Due to the flexibility inherent in Saemaul Undong, each village had freedom to make a decision on which projects to work on and where to give priority and then implement the chosen projects in a creative manner. The institutional mechanisms were there to initiate and support the local initiatives, but not to impose them in every single village.

These elements of local innovation and adaptation of Saemaul Undong should also be highlighted. In responding to the request from our partner countries for sharing our rural development experiences, we have no intention to present a one-size-fits-all package of specific policies or projects. Nor would it be possible in reality. No development theory or experience can be applied blindly without any contextual adaptation.

We are well aware of the importance of contextual adaptations in the pursuit of the MOFA-OECD joint research project. Our objectives in pursuing this project is to produce a policy toolkit that we can share with our development partners, based on an analysis of Korea’s rural development strategies in the 1970s and a thorough comparison of Saemaul Undong with rural development policies of other countries. This policy toolkit should comprise key principles commonly found in both Saemaul Undong and rural development policies of other countries as well as various development modules applicable in different contexts and circumstances.

For instance, rural development strategies and approaches of the countries which have strong system of central government should differ from those which have not. Such differences should be duly reflected in the policy modules. In countries with weak governance, the modules should place an emphasis on building the capacity of local people so that they can implement projects on their own, while emphasizing the role of villagers as well as local governments as opposed to central governments. They should also offer a mechanism in which villagers can share success stories and best practices with each other and provide ways and means to expand the village-centered activities to a nation-wide movement.

Distinguished Guests,

Professor Jeffrey Sachs once reflected, “The key to ending extreme poverty is to enable the poorest of the poor to get their foot on the ladder of development."

Saemaul Undong is a clear case of this, where the Korean rural poor habituated to chronic poverty were able to get their foot on the ladder of development and escape from the poverty trap. I look forward to the MOFA-OECD research project, through an objective and systematic analysis, presenting ways to contribute to improving the quality of life of the world’s rural poor and achieving the post-2015 development goals.

The workshop today marks the mid-point of our two-year journey of the joint research project which began in January of this year. It is my sincere hope that this workshop will provide us with a valuable opportunity to take stock of the progress we have achieved so far and provide the way forward in our unfinished journey.

Thank you very much. /End/