South Korea, Land of the Morning calm sits in the spotlight of the world stage as one of the most resilient and zealous nations this world has ever seen. The secret behind the amazing transformation that this country has seen can be attributed to the novel concept of ‘Saemaul Undong’.

Saemaul Undong was a unique community development model suggested by the late President of Korea, Park Chung Hee on April 22, 1970 as a village movement to improve the living conditions of rural communities and Korea’s overall economic development in general.

The Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul (‘PSPS’) was established as an academic institution to educate and share Korea’s experiences in uplifting her nation. Accordingly, PSPS has embarked on a mission to foster learning of Saemaul Undong and impart the knowledge, skills and the Saemaul spirit to aspiring students from developing countries across the globe.

This unique opportunity that PSPS offers comes in five different packages of the masters programs namely: Saemaul Undong and Community Development, International Development Cooperation, Public Policy and Leadership, Forest Resources and Ecological Restoration and Environmental Management and Policy.

The purpose and desire of the PSPS is to nurture and inspire the future leaders from around the world to be equipped and to contribute to effectively reduce poverty in their respective countries. The presence of a multi-cultural and multi-national student body further enriches the programs and nurtures innovative thinking and fosters relationships amongst one another to create an inclusive global community.

We had the opportunity of documenting views on the programs offered at PSPS and invited suggestions on how these programs can be improved upon for maximum effectiveness. We had contributions from a few of the students who are currently in their fourth semester at PSPS majoring in Saemaul Undong and Community Development.
 

Kanthi Amaradasa from Sri Lanka is a women’s development officer attached to the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs. Her position as a development officer enables her to work at the grassroots level with women in the rural areas where women are seen to be the instruments of change for development in this sector.
 
 Kanthi has had a very eye opening, mind enlightening experience at PSPS. The program has been educative, valuable and is definitely going to enhance her career. She affirms that the knowledge, skills and Saemaul spirit that has been imparted and acquired at PSPS has equipped her with the necessary tools and provided valuable experience to enhance her position and carry out her duties more effectively and also to share the Saemaul spirit amongst the women folk.

 PSPS as an educational institute of Yeungnam university is a very unique institute mainly because it consists of a diverse student community and creates a global community in one place. The institute not only provides knowledge but also provides practical and empirical knowledge to eradicate global poverty. This vast educational package is delivered with the aim and intention of a better life for the global community.

 Aside from the excellent academic experience, Kanthi highlighted on how her experience in South Korea has been enriched through the exposure to culture, language and lifestyle changes. Although the initial perception of Korea was that Korea was a very traditional Asian country, these perceptions have now changed. Korea is now seen in the light as a country that is a fusion of East meets West but a country that is retaining all her culture, traditions and values.

 The culture of Korea is certainly unique and interesting. As a student having had the chance of learning the basics of the Korean martial art in the form of ‘Taekwondo’, Korean traditional music in the form of ‘Samulnori’ and learning the basics of the Korean language has certainly been a privilege. Also she has experienced a few of the traditional festivals like the Persimmon festival, traditional games, attire and tasted the exquisite Korean cuisine.

 One of the notable experiences for Kanthi has been experiencing the four seasons which is the climate of Korea. As Sri Lanka is a tropical country with only two seasons (dry and wet), the challenge of adapting to a different weather and lifestyle has been an interesting and wonderful experience.

  She notes that the interactions with Korean society has had some challenges primarily the language barrier as it has posed as a bottleneck for communication. However, despite the language barrier, she has had pleasant experiences and interactions with Koreans/Korean students and learnt quite a lot in the process through living patterns, interactions and attitudes of people she interacts and meets with.

  The most important aspect of Kanthi’s Korean experience has been the manner and etiquette in interactions of the Korean people especially the high regard that is bestowed upon the elders of society.
 

Dwi Purmomo, hailing from Indonesia is a staff member at the Water Resources Management - Directorate General of Water Resources, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing. He expresses appreciation of the success story of the Miracle on the Han river.
 
 He is of the opinion that the program has been tailored to educate students on the Korean rural development program/policy in 1970's directed towards the global society especially developing countries. These lessons learnt from the Korean experience can be utilized and applied in developing countries.

 During his period of study at PSPS, he noted that although most community development strategies employ similar framework and structure, what is unique in South Korea’s story is the type of strategy employed which is the competition strategy to encourage villages. Also there was a strong government policy and leadership in place that contributed to the immense success of the Saemaul Undong. However, he stresses that in order to transfer this utopian concept, students should keep in mind that this development model should be tailored to fall in line with the respective societal settings and cultures.

 Before Dwi came to Korea, he hardly knew much about the country aside from the notable features of Korea in the entertainment industry and as one of the top producers of ginseng.  A year later, Dwi has a more broader perspective and appreciation of Korea especially the valuable education received at PSPS. He views his academic tenure at PSPS as a unique and enriching experience for himself and the global community.

 On a personal level, the living experience for Dwi has been interesting and challenging in terms of interactions with Korean society, language barrier and dietary restrictions as Dwi is a Moslem.

Nathan Kibet Kibon, a Kenyan national who works at the Ministry of Labour as a Social Development Officer undertook the program at PSPS with the intention of learning the secrets that boosted the socio-economic development of Korea. He has found the program at PSPS to be very informative, educative and mind enlightening. He also emphasized on the exclusive opportunity of networking on an international level thanks to the diverse and multinational student community.
 

Nathan’s living experience in Korea has been inspiring thanks to the awareness of the Saemaul spirit which is based on the core values of Diligence, Self-help, and Cooperation. He has enjoyed the traditional and cultural aspects of Korea and also acquired basic communicative skills in the Korean language. He states of his experience of the interactions with Koreans as, “nothing short of enjoyable.” He has found Koreans to be honest, lovely, trustworthy, willing to help, courteous and friendly.
 His exposure and experience of the country has broadened his horizons after seeing the incredible developments in infrastructure, environment, security and technology.

Ghana, popular for the best cocoa in the world is where Mumuni Mohammed Tando hails from. He belongs to one of the most noble professions, as an Educator attached to the Ministry of Education. He is a responsible head teacher in a junior high school in Ghana.

 
 The program at PSPS has been very useful for Tando, as he has benefited from the knowledge of the history of Korea’s economic development and in the process of learning he has improved his analytical abilities. His academic experience has given him more motivation and he has drawn inspiration from Korea and her people.

 He applauds the quality education imparted under the patronage of PSPS and remarks on the deep impact this program has had on students hailing from developing countries. In order to improve on the programs and give students a holistic and sound knowledge, he recommends that new contemporary community development courses could be introduced alongside Saemaul Undong. The effect of a new and improved program would enable students to be versatile and be able to apply their broad knowledge to different development challenges.

 From a personal perspective, Tando has experienced Korea’s unique culture, traditions and acquired the basics of the Korean language. Culture shock is usually expected for international students and for Tando too, he was taken aback particularly at the forward way questions are asked of international students such as, “how old are you? Are you married? What are you doing here? What is your major?” Etc.

 He amusedly remarked at how surprising these questions are posed by Koreans on the first meeting with hardly any introductions being made. Although unusual, Tando takes it in the spirit of understanding how diverse humanity is.

Ibrahim Iddrisu is also from Ghana and works as a Social Development Officer at Tamale Metropolitan Assembly which comes under the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development. The academic program that he has been following at PSPS is most definitely appropriate and complements his line of work. He has gained a pool of knowledge from his academic tenure at PSPS and he appreciates that he has had the unique opportunity to learn new subjects not directly related to community development such as economics.
 
 Academic tenure for Ibrahim has been an excellent experience and he hopes the PSPS will continue to educate more of the global community and perhaps the target of eradicating poverty worldwide may be achieved sooner than anticipated with developing countries having been adequately equipped to handle and address the situations in their respective countries.

 The Korean experience in terrns of living for Ibrahim has been a wonderful experience despite a few challenges such as the weather, dietary restrictions and language barrier.

 Prior to his arrival in Korea, he was aware of the difference between North and South Korea and that South Korea was a developed country which is home to well known companies such as Samsung, Hyundai, LG electronics etc. He remarks of the resilience of the country and is amazed at how patriotic her people are. During the time of severe poverty in the 1950’s after the Korean War, the country was left in a pitiable state and in order to lift the country out of that status, her people went to the extent of donating their valuable possessions including gold; they came together as one people to help their country regain its economy. Ibrahim also appreciates that democracy is truly practiced in Korea where no one is seen or treated as one above the law.

 He has high praise for Korean traditions and values which are a bit similar to his own in Ghana such as respect for the elderly. In this fast growing global world and the influence of western values and modern technology, he hopes that the youth and future generations will continue the traditions and retain the culture. 

 In regards to recommendations and suggestions about the program, he was of the opinion that as the masters course is an intensive program, more time should be allocated in order to enable students to fully benefit from the course content and also opportunity should be provided for students to take time for their thesis to collect data and analyze first hand from their respective countries personally. He also opined that more additional courses related to community development such as SMU and community development planning should be integrated into the academic curriculum.

 It is always interesting to learn new languages and the same goes for the Korean Language. However, he suggested that perhaps the mode of teaching and structure of the language course be tailored to enable students to learn to speak the language well and not necessarily focus on learning the language from an academic perspective.

 As a pious individual, Ibrahim believes that, “He who does not show appreciation to the human beings for the good things done to him will never show appreciation to the creator, God.” In that light he would like to record his appreciation to all the Professors and non-academic members of PSPS for their valuable guidance, assistance and co-operation during his academic tenure at PSPS.

 All these perspectives from students sets PSPS in the limelight and miles apart from other academic institutions and on a pedestal aiming to create and foster a global community working together to eradicate global poverty.

 PSPS is driven by the mission to educate and nurture young future leaders and public officials from developing countries around the globe who are dedicated to the development of their country and their local communities. PSPS believes that in the global efforts to pursue the sustainable development goals can be achieved through utilizing the philosophy and strategies of Saemaul Undong which has proved to be an effective means to accomplish an inclusive and sustainable development in developing countries.