This article aims to draw up suggestions on conditions for participatory rural development in Korea. Rural development policies since 2000 have emphasized local community participation. However obstacles are identifed such as the troubled circumstances in which local communities face and the lack of governments’ understanding over locality in implementing participatory rural development. Endogenous self-organizations, local participation, capacitation and empowerment, local governance through partnership are important conditions to be met during the participatory development projects. These are realized not just by the aggregation of separate individuals but by linking them together and interdependent.

The paper presents a case of PIMFY-ism concerning the introduction of wind turbines into a local place. Our observation made for Jeju Island (South Korea) contrasts tothe previous findings that report local resistance to wind turbine construction. The island has been a mecca for wind farm construction for the last decade in Korea. The island’s plenty of wind was a challenge to islander’s livelihood activities in the past but it has now turned to be an economicsource for supporting villagers through compensation arrangements. By highlighting two case studies, we made it clear social process by which wind turbine construction projects were negotiated and implemented. Our study pointed to the significanc of an economic situation of a local place in shaping local attitudes to wind energy investment.

This is a miracle in movies. It’s the best shaman ritual with tears and blood through the camera. It’s Muel O’s talent to make it embracing the ordinary life not with the formalism of intellects. ‘Jiseul’ is one of the best movies this year and full of the immortal spirit. This is the review on the outcome from the minimal condition. You can imagine the outcome from more fulflling conditions. It’s time that we should fully support him who is dreaming to fly high where nobody has paid attention

This article is the narrative of Jeju people as a collectivity and of their quest for future directions. It is a story of a small island people, but at the same time, it is not unique to Jeju people, but applies to all humanity. There are many different visions and stories about what Jeju identity is and what its future should be. It appears that not one of the stories told by different groups can be left out, although they seem to compete with each other, and there are different audiences for different stories. I was very much moved and touched, when I learned about Jeju people’s narratives and quest and wanted to tell the story to the outside world. My story is that of an outsider.

The Haenyeos (Jamnyeo or Jamsu)1, who have harvested shellfish, abalone, and seaweed with their original diving skills offshore, and in the deep sea for over 1700 years, have created and accumulated their achievements and challenges along the way. They were generally disregarded and the Haenyeos worked as alienated groups in small island societies. They have dominated their profession because they are more physically suited for it than men. They can dive as deep as 15 to 20 meters and stay under water for around three minutes without the aid of breathing equipment. Politically, they organized voluntary associations, called Jamsuhoi, that decide local village issues through democratic voting and decision-making. Through their power, they were able to maintain a four-month long uprising (January-April 1932) against Japanese Imperialism’s illegal management of marine products of their sea villages. Economically, they were able to support their households and educate their family members through income gained by selling products to markets. It was evaluated that they greatly contributed to improving the prosperity of villages and the island economy as a whole. Since 1895, the Haenyeos regularly went abroad seasonally, to earn money at sea in such regions as China, Japan and the Korean peninsula. Their migration and settlements, especially on the Korean peninsula and Japan, are highly accepted for their special skills, and the higher economic value of the products they catch in those areas. It is possibly explained by the economic gap between Jeju Island, Korea, and Japan under the influenceof Japanese capitalism. Culturally they also created and developed their folklore, traditional rituals, and festivals that commemorate their hard work and wandering, Gypsy-like life in the deep sea; a little different from the mode of Korean p’ansori music. The Haenyeos also have a gender component that contributed to developing the potentials of Jeju Island family value system as an integrated family model upon the combination of big and nexus family systems in their home. Through these discussions, this paper argues the Jeju Haenyeos serve as an example of equitable gender roles in small island societies, different from or beyond the scope of traditional Korean Confucian stereotypes.