Recommendation of “Saemaul Club” and “Saemaul Spirit 2.0” at Saemaul International Forum

Requirement for increase of ODA budget to meet the prestige of ROK, an advanced country

Recommendation to share intellectual property including patent technologies, etc. with developing countries

[November 06, 2023]

 <At the ‘Saemaul International Forum’ on the 4th, President CHOI Oe-chool of YU gave a keynote lecture on “How to implement Saemaul in the era of advanced countries.”>

For two days from the 3rd, Gyeongsangbuk-do, the center of the Saemaul Movement, held the “2023 Saemaul Festival” at Gumi Saemaul Undong Theme Park to lay the foundation for leading the local era.

As part of the Saemaul Festival,
 
 At “Saemaul International Forum” hosted by Gyeongsangbuk-do and managed by Saemaul Foundation and YU, President CHOI Oe-chool of YU gave a keynote lecture on the 4th on “How to implement Saemaul in the era of advanced countries.” Saemaul International Forum was held in the multi-purpose hall of the Global Hall of Saemaul Theme Park under the theme of “Local Era, Saemaul Road” with great enthusiasm with the attendance of over 300 people from 24 countries, including abroad-studying students from developing countries.

<In the keynote lecture, President CHOI Oe-chool explains the structure to implement Smart Saemeul based on diligence, self-help, cooperation, sharing, service, and creation (Saemaul Spirit 2.0)>

In the keynote lecture that day, President Choi said, “Korea is the only country that made the leap from a least developed country to a developing country to a developed country, and the fact that the Saemaul Undong played an important role in that process is evaluated by major international leaders, including past presidents of Korea. It is an advanced country.” The direction of the Saemaul Undong in Korea can be divided into domestic and international strategies. In order to develop Korea into a more dignified Republic of Korea, it will be highly helpful for improvement of various faced social issues to start a movement to share and practice Saemaul Spirit 2.0 with addition of the value of sharing, service, and creation to basic Saemaul spirit of diligence, self-help, and cooperation wih organization of Saemaul clubs in local community units. He recommended to implement Smart Saemaul to share and spread Saemaul Spirit in consideration of the characteristics of the times when the use of smart devices has become widespread.

He also said, “Efforts should be actively made to share successful cases of Saemaul Undong with developing countries by cultivating Saemaul development experts and human resources to educate Korea’s development experience know-how. We are expanding Official Development Assistance (ODA) internationally but a more active role of ROK is required. Especially, it is necessary to develop a 'Korean-style official development assistance' brand that diagnoses the different economic and social environments of about 150 developing countries and applies and shares Korea's development experience, and actively promotes intellectual property such as patented technology obtained in the process of Korea's development.

Finally, a warm heart and sincere attitude are very important in sharing Korea’s Saemaul Undong and Korea’s development experience with international communities, which has become an advanced country.”

President CHOI established the Park Chung-hee Graduate School of Saemaul in 2011 and developed the Saemaul Undong into an academic discipline, playing an important role in cultivating domestic and foreign talents and sharing Saemaul experiences.Until now, more than 860 persons from 73 countries around the world have entered the Park Chung-hee Graduate School of Saemaul to study the master's program. If short-term training on Saemaul Undong is included, over 4,000 foreign government officials and experts from over 80 countries completed the training and education to share their Saemaul experiences and are playing important roles in developing countries.

In addition to Saemaul International Development, YU is promoting active exchange and cooperation with developing countries that wish to share the know-how in various areas accumulated during Korea's development process. Many developing countries, including the Philippines, Cambodia, and Uzbekistan, hope to share and transmit Saemaul Studies and recently, the fields of study requested are expanding, including computers, information and communications, water resources, and forestry. In addition, YU focuses on nurturing human resources that contribute to the common development of the global community through active efforts such as nurturing talent for Saemaul development to eradicate poverty in cooperation with international organizations to improve the international community's sustainable development goals (SDGs).