In South Korea, the gold-collecting campaign was a national sacrificial movement in early 1998 to repay its debt to the International Monetary Fund.

[3] The domestic foreign-exchange market lacked dollars, the South Korean won exchange rate increased, and some financial institutions were unable to repay their foreign debts.

[3] The Kim Dae-jung government persuaded the South Korean people to participate in the Gold-collecting campaign to overcome the nation's debt to the International Monetary Fund.

The Korean Broadcasting System proposed a "gold-gathering movement" beginning on January 6, 1998, which received nationwide attention.

The Saemaul Gold Raising Movement spread nationwide thanks to the positive evaluation of the Korean people at the time.

The campaign had two facets: KBS's "love of nation" and the MBC TV and civic-organization "foreign-debt repayment".

[8] The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy estimated the total number of participants at 3.51 million, with 30 percent of the gold collected during the campaign's first 10 days.

[8] Participation continued during February, and MBC and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation led their campaign until March 14.

[17] Contemporary news articles emphasized voluntary participation to overcome a national crisis and shame associated with not self-sacrificing for the country.

[18] Emphasizing the patriotism of the Korean people, it blurred the real reasons for the economic crisis with emotional appeals.

[18] The collective memory of the campaign was used to justify chaebols, labor flexibility, over-consumption, and nostalgia for the Park Chung-hee regime; critical reflection on the event was ignored.