Environmental Science for National Development: The Seoul Environmental Assessment Project of the Smithsonian Institution, 1971-1975

This paper explores the US-Korea collaborative environmental assessment of Seoul, South Korea, in 1971-1975. With increasing global-scale pollution during the Cold War, environmental scientists and government officials of the U.S. recognized value of collecting environmental data. In this context, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) established a plan to make guidelines for the environmental policy in developing countries in the late 1960s. As a part of this plan, the USAID implemented an environmental assessment project of Seoul through a contract with the Office of International and Environmental Programs (OIEP) of the Smithsonian Institution. The goal of the guideline plan was to collect data and to reduce the environmentally detrimental impact on cities in developing countries. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, was an ideal place for USAID officials because as a result of urban growth and population increase the city had gone through the most severe environmental pollution among cities in the developing world. Although Korean Scientists were eager to engage in the collaborative project as it funded their research, the authorities of Seoul feared the project's possible conclusion that would harm the nation's reputation. This paper analyzes how science on environmental data collection was made compatible with the national economic development of Korea by examining the relationship and tensions among OIEP, Korean Scientists, and governmental officials of Seoul. This paper illuminates that the Seoul project was essential to the construction of the idea of a “sustainable development” for developing countries.