Inclusive growth through Saemaul Undong in Korea

Saemaul Undong (SMU) is a ‘comprehensive community development programme’ launched by the government of the Republic of Korea in 1970 to reduce the economic gap between rural and urban areas, and subsequently extended to urban factories, schools and offices. A series of SMU projects designed and operated on the principles of ‘by the people, for the people, and of the people’ contributed to inclusive growth in Korea by performing three core tasks of human civilization through people’s capacity-building: establishing ‘governance’, accumulating ‘social capital’ and practising ‘sustainability’. These SMU projects cultivated various value chains from production to processing and marketing that increased cooperation, expanded value added, reduced the gaps between rural and urban areas, mitigated gender inequality, and contributed to inclusive growth through an equitable sharing of the benefits.