International diffusion practice : lessons from South Korea's New Village Movement

Abstract

This research focuses on how South Korea's development model-namely, the Saemaul Undong, or the New Village Movement-is diffused internationally, in particular, to the developing country of Vietnam. South Korea's successful model has been diffused through various different channels for years, mostly in the form of foreign aid projects. Due to the prevailing view that international diffusion practices take place homogenously (in a near-universally standardized manner) within the recipient communities, and due to the propensity on the part of both donor and recipient governments to highlight only successful cases of diffusion while not publicizing those that have failed, several key questions, such as, how diffusion actually takes place, or how each project is likely to bring about different outcomes based on who initiates or leads the project, and to what extent this particular South Korean model has been viable and sustainable in the recipient country, remain largely unveiled. This research, therefore, aims to analyze the role of each stakeholder and how these stakeholders-either personnel or institutions-make an impact on the degree of diffusion of the Saemaul Undong process. It seeks to differentiate the impact of diffusion between short-term or one-time aid projects and those that have managed to become a sustainable development model in the recipient community. To be specific, the roles of politicians, administrative officials at the local level, non-governmental agents, external factors, and minor actors are investigated at the micro-level.