Max Altenhofen
Abstract In 1973, the Park Chung Hee government launched its first Reforestation Plan to deal with the pressing issues surrounding forest loss, soil erosion, and forest management through countrywide tree planting and stricter control of forest use for logging. The top-down campaigns, often referred to as a “green Yushin,” can be understood as eco-governmentality with direct state intervention in the sylvan environment. However, to recognize the effects of reforestation on the local level, there is a need for further consideration of the role of forest owners. The West German and South Korean governments promoted the establishment of Forest Management Cooperatives (FMC). After their introduction in Ulju County, the model was subsequently transferred to other regions all over the country throughout the 1980s. The cooperatives contributed to the economic livelihood of the rural population and enabled the transfer of forest management skills and practices to forest owners amidst the government-led campaign. The forest owners could then actively participate in decision-making processes on the local level. This article proposes a new understanding of the reforestation campaigns that took place under the authoritarian government by engaging perspectives from the local level and introducing the new models of cooperatives that were carried out as rural development projects.