새마을운동의 새로운 방향 설정에서 행정의 역할에 관한 연구

A Study on the Role of Public Administration in the Future Direction of Saemaul Undong

Saemaul Undong since 1970s was a great achievement in Korea, which leads to the export to the developing countries in Asia and Africa. However Saemaul Undong in Korea has not shown the future blueprint after its success, which seems to undermine its achievement. This paper reflects on its absence and tries to show what is the next step of Saemaul Undong. It is the respect to life-world and social happiness in it. Some Koreans feel that it is the time to respect the community which has been nearly collapsed, because the success of Saemaul Undong lead Koreans to individualization, which means that they have no such passion as to have interest in their community. Human beings live in two worlds: Life-world and system. The former is the concept similar to community and the latter is similar to the concept of association. The significance of life-world is the source of social happiness. Social happiness based on eudaimonia means being and doing well from the viewpoint of life-world, because it is closely linked to form of life. The role of government should help to increase social happiness. In order to do so, it should come nearer to the life-world, which happens in the UK. The representative of the UK’s case is community care. Saemaul Undong responding to the government policy covers the emphasis of work ethics, grass-root movement, and community care. This paper hints Saemaul Undong can be developed to a genuine Korean-born theory.