Abstract

Saemaeul undong is regarded as one of the leading forces behind Korea’s economic progress and modernization by resolving economic and social problems in rural society, overcoming national crises, and instilling confidence in the people. Since the 1970s, Saemaeul undong has been studied and discussed in numerous contexts. However, not many research efforts have been made to specifically classify the overall flow and development stages of Saemaeul undong by age from the perspective of sustainability. By applying the open systems approach, research on the evolution of the Saemaeul undong was conducted. The Saemaeul undong seen through this systems approach shows itself as an effective open system organization. The study results show that Saemaeul undong’s evolution is driven by an iterative cycle of input, throughput, output, and feedback. Within this process, the goals and value indicators, project type, and content of Saemaeul undong were determined by the degree of involvement in the promotion system by the government, private sector, and academia. Following the findings, the promotion system of Saemaeul undong is an important variable that has a key influence on the development process of Saemaeul undong. The study concludes that continuous academic research is needed to analyze changes in the international environment and propose new parameters for the promotion system of Saemaeul undong.