Позитивные изменения. Том 4, №1 (2024). Positive changes. Volume 4, Issue 1 (2024)

Leaders of Saemaul acted as driving forces and pioneers, setting examples through their own lives and creating attractive images for other villagers to aspire to. Although elected by villagers, these leaders worked entirely as volunteers without financial remuneration. However, the government closely monitored them and rewarded successful cases with plaques of appreciation, which seems to have played a significant role in maintaining their morale. Thus, self-help served as the mainstay for community leaders, representing a proactive movement toward a common goal.

It's evident that to achieve this, an internal locus of control is necessary, even if it was more external at some point in the past. This shift is understandable given Korea’s nearly half-century under severe repression by the Japanese, during which the Korean language was banned, Korean cultural monuments were destroyed, Korean history itself was rewritten — the environment began to be perceived as uncontrollable, where a person is only a passive victim of the system and circumstances, unable to influence the surroundings.

Such circumstances provided fertile ground for the emergence of learned helplessness which is detrimental in relation to the formation of self-help attitude. It is worth a separate mention in this context. This phenomenon was described by M. Seligman, and according to his definition, it emerges where individuals believe they cannot change, prevent or transform external circumstances, leading them to cease attempts at change even when success is probable. Its manifestations can occur both at the level of an individual and at the level of an entire country.

Returning to the Republic of Korea, we must underscore the psychological transformation the Saemaul movement provided to Korean peasants. It represented a return to personal authorship of life and self-help, defining oneself as responsible for one’s own future and that of one’s people, capable of shaping it with one’s own hands.

COOPERATION

According to the dictionary definition, cooperation is the joint activity of people, involving the distribution of responsibilities, coordination of actions, and mutual assistance and support[122].

The essence of the Saemaul movement lies in building a village/city/country where abundance reigns — materially, spiritually, and, most importantly, not only for oneself but also for one’s neighbor.

This spirit of togetherness runs deep in the Korean mentality. Not only does one’s well-being depend on society’s (the individual as a social consumer), but society’s well-being depends on individual contributions (the individual as a proactive participant and a creator). This is exemplified by the famous story of the 1998 crisis, when Koreans donated 226 metric tons of gold worth $2.2 billion to banks as part of a nationwide campaign. In Korea, gold is not merely a precious metal; it symbolizes significant life events like birth of a child, wedding, retirement; it is more of a symbol than a display of wealth. But this generosity extended beyond gold donations. Young people forwent studying abroad, trade unions refrained from demanding wage increases, and deputies waived salary indexing. In short, everyone contributed to stabilizing the economy.

In contemporary Western “therapeutic culture” discourse, such dedicated commitment might be viewed as a sign of “unhealthiness,” weak ego, and a lack of self-care skills. In Korea, personal success historically belongs to the society. Thus, finding personal meaning in the alignment of motives with goals[123] leads to a high level of individual satisfaction, as it reflects the realization of personal purpose, especially in moments of collective achievement. This could be another psychological factor contributing to the efficacy of the “new village movement.”

HYPOTHESES ON LATENT FACTORS

The aforementioned three factors, both declaratively and practically, served as fundamental pillars, the psychological “soil,” for the successful implementation of the movement. Now, let’s look into several other factors that, with a certain degree of probability, could have served (and continue to serve to this day) as drivers of community activation within the framework of the Saemaul model.

DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM THE OUTSIDE

As the initial successes of the New Village Movement became evident, the government shifted to a more proactive stage — training village leaders and local community heads. Since 1972, specialized training centers have conducted workshops to nurture Saemaul leaders. Their curriculum not only focused on practical leadership skills but also on propagating Saemaul’s principles extensively. Hence, the country’s leadership saw the fusion of economic and ideological components as pivotal to success.

Training at these centers consisted (and continues to consist up to this day) of five blocks:

1. Hands-on learning.

2. Interactive workshops.