Economy22 April 1970

Saemaul Movement

A government-led movement for diligence, self-help and cooperation to improve rural living conditions and incomes, later extended to cities and factories.

It began in April 1970 at the proposal of President Park Chung-hee. The government gave each village cement and steel bars, and residents rebuilt roofs, widened village roads and ran income projects in the spirit of "diligence, self-help and cooperation".

Starting as a rural improvement campaign, it spread to cities, workplaces and factories and also served to promote government policy. Its records were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2013.

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States and rulers at the time: South Korea — President Park Chung-hee

People

Park Chung-hee1917 – 1979
leader · 5th–9th President (1963–1979). Led the May 16 coup, the five-year economic plans and the Yushin system; killed in the October 26 incident

Before and after

Earlier: 1969 Third-Term Amendment
Later: 1970 Opening of the Gyeongbu Expressway

Themes that include this event

Printing and Documentary HeritageAD 751 – 2011
From the Dharani Sutra to the May 18 archives — woodblock and metal-type printing, and the records inscribed on the Memory of the World