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One of the problems faced by the Park Chung-hee government in the 1960s was the unequal development between urban and rural areas. In order to improve backward rural areas, the government launched the Saemaeul (New Village) Movement nationwide in 1971. The rural community development and modernization campaign stressed the spirits of diligence, self-help and cooperation, and aimed to improve the environment, lifestyle and income of people living in rural areas.
The state-sponsored campaign was approached in a variety of manners, including farm mechanization, development of new crop varieties, construction of Saemaeul plants and improvement of the rural environment, and achieved the development of local communities. However, some people criticized the Saemaeul Movement as the authoritarian government’s attempt to seize rural areas, and it eventually increased farm household debts.
“Viva New Rural Villages” is a one-page promotional photo leaflet featuring farming and fishing communities pursuing various new projects under the Saemaeul Movement. The leaflet helps us to see successful campaign results at a glance, including mechanization of farming, development of new crop varieties, cooperative farming and improvement of the rural environment.
The photo leaflet details 10 rural community development projects: Construction of a tidal flat road by a community’s own efforts and the development of joint community income-generation works; the operation of a community straw goods plant that earned an annual income of 8 million won; a beekeeping business performed as a sideline by Gosan Village in Jinwon-myeon, Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam-do; newly constructed village roads to accommodate cultivators and farming tractors; activities to make money on the side using free time; a Saemaeul employment promotion project for low-income people; a joint pig farming business of the rural community in Geumjeong 1(il)-gu, Simcheon-myeon, Yeongdong-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do; a joint straw bag plant in Seonju Village in Pungmu 2(i)-ri, Gimpo-myeon, Gimpo-gun, Gyeonggi-do; the joint production of bush clover products worth an annual income of 10 million won in Sucheol-ri, Geumseo-myeon, Sancheong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do; and toy production and sales operated by a women’s association in Bukahyeon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.
The photo leaflet offers a glimpse of rural villages transformed through the Saemaeul Movement in the 1970s, showing various projects performed to increase rural household incomes. |
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Saemaeul Movement, New Village Movement, Promotional material, Photo leaflet, Rural villages, Rural house improvement project, 1970s, Park Chung-hee |
