Summit on Korean anti-poverty movement in city

SOURCE: Panay News

ILOILO City – The Iloilo provincial government will host the first Saemaul Undong Summit in this city from Aug. 30 to 31.

Saemaul Undong (SMU), or “New Village Movement,” is a political and social reform initiative introduced by then South Korean president Park Chung-Hee in 1970 to lift his warn-torn country out of poverty.

The SMU’s core spirits or principles are anchored on the Korean traditional values of diligence, self-help and cooperation.

“Having witnessed for myself the significant role of SMU to South Korea’s growth and development, I am hoping that this summit will provide us with a platform where we can understand and appreciate SMU better, and replicate its framework and success factors in the context of our province,” said Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr.

In October 2014 Defensor participated in the first Global Saemaul Leadership Forum in Seoul, South Korea with wife Cosette and Mayor Matt Palabrica of Bingawan town.

The SMU was first introduced to the province 20 years ago by missionaries from South Korea, and then by its partners from the Korea International Cooperation Agency.

To be held in partnership with the Philippine Saemaul Undong (PSMU) and the Embassy of Korea, the two-day summit will be keynoted by renowned Korean academics from Yeungnam University.

It is expected to gather municipal mayors, including their planning or community organizing officers, as well as the different national and regional agencies.

“SMU has been touted as the driving force behind the present success of South Korea,” explained Mario Nillos, PSMU chairman and Iloilo’s provincial planning and development coordinator.

“The United Nations has hailed it as the primary strategy that turned around the economy of the once-impoverished South Korea and propelled it into the ranks of super power economies,” Nillos added.