The Political Economy of the Roof: The New Village Movement in 1970s South Korea

Abstract

This study investigates South Korea’s rural modernization project conducted under the name of the New Village Movement during the rapid industrialization period of the 1970s. The focus is on a specific event called the Roof Improvement Project within this Movement. In the 1970s, rural poverty was often portrayed through images of monochromatic village landscapes populated by dilapidated mud-walled houses crowned with coverings of faded grass thatch. Replacing the thatched roofs with something more colorful and modern was quickly identified as one of the most effective ways of showcasing ‘rural development.’ By 1978, an astonishing 2,618,000 thatched houses throughout the countryside had their old roofs replaced with a new material known as ‘slate.’ The rural ‘change’ particularly manifested through the brightly colored slate roofs lining the highways. This technicolor display propagandized development and, ultimately, legitimized the military regime’s rule. However, the new ‘modern’ roofs actually eroded farmers’ financial status and bolstered the accumulation of capital by specific industries. To trace the flow of capital extracted from farmers, this study also delves into the history of two large corporate groups - KCC and Pyŏksan - that were able to solidify the early foundation for their current business formation in the 1970s.