earticle

영어

Three urgent tasks challenging human beings are global warming, exhaustion of fossil resources, and shortage in food. The evacuation of rural communities, the retrogression of rural industries, and the deterioration of farmers' statuses are matters of great urgency both in Korean and China. This study analyzes the background and process of the Korean Kangwon Province's Rural Community Renovation (RCR) Campaign. China, which is carrying forward the 'Socialist New Rural Community Construction Campaign', would receive some lessons from the Korean precedent.
The RCR Campaign is a bottom-up but grass-roots participating movement. It aims at promoting practicability, self-empowerment, and free competition, and spirit, income, and environment are the ideas for fulfilling these objectives. This campaign was so successful that rural communities have revived their vitality. There have been significant progresses in residents' consciousness, village environment, and rural income.
However, this campaign was not completely free of short-comings. Chinese rural campaign may refer the Korean experience for its success. Firstly, the incentive fund to the villages of outstanding performance was not properly managed because it was provided as a one-off base. Secondly, the evaluation focused on performances has exacerbated the income inequality of villages. The villages, which have poor resources, have been disadvantaged in this evaluation system. Lastly, it was learned that inter-village networks are pivotal in order to boost the synergy effects of concerned programs.