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[wylies99]

Korea Starts Campaign to Polish Image
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/01/116_38267.html

By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter

South Korea is considering creating a pool of 100 billion won ($74 million) to spruce up its negative image overseas and build a brand as a ``respected and beloved'' member of the global community, the chairman of a presidential commission on nation branding said Tuesday.

In an exclusive interview with The Korea Times, Euh Yoon-dae said the country must increase economic aid to underdeveloped countries to share the premium of its rapid economic growth.

``Creating a fund is one of the options to ensure successful nation branding. We will discuss finding the best way,'' said Euh, 63, who starts a two-year term today as the first chairman of the Presidential Council on National Branding.

The 50-member council, including eight ministers and several experts from the country's leading conglomerates, will play a central role in reorganizing Korea's branding activities and creating positive images abroad for the world's 13th largest economy.

``We forecast the total amount of money spent annually on branding by the Seoul metropolitan government, the Korea Tourism Organization and other government agencies to reach about 100 billion won ($74 million). The council will find ways to maximize the effects of branding activities through close policy coordination with them,'' Euh said.

Last year, New Zealand spent about 100 billion won on branding campaigns and Denmark created a pool of $85 million to support global promotions, according to the former president of Korea University, President Lee Myung-bak's alma mater.

``Many government agencies and municipal governments have their own branding programs. The council will coordinate policies with them to make South Korea a globally respected and beloved country,'' Euh said.

He said South Korea has become a wealthy country, but has not been active in helping underdeveloped countries and that it needs to improve its reputation abroad by increasing official development assistance (ODA) to underdeveloped nations.

``Korea's economy has grown rapidly in recent decades, but its global contribution is not commensurate with its economic power. Korea's hardware has grown quickly, but its software development has been too slow,'' Euh said.

Korea was on the ODA recipient list up until the late 1990s. Since entering the new millennium, Korea has become a donor.

According to the Organization for Economic cooperation and Development, Korea's ODA provision was $264 million in 2001. It increased to $672 million in 2007, 0.07 percent of gross national income (GNI), but is still far below major donors, whose average donations in 2007 accounted for 0.3 percent of GNI.

Euh said the country's leading conglomerates, Samsung, LG and Hyundai, have a better global reputation than their country.

``In terms of branding on the global stage, Korea lags far behind these companies,'' he said. ``Our activities will focus on reducing the gap and preventing such firms from receiving undue treatment just because they are from South Korea.''

Euh said it was President Lee's idea to create the council on national branding.

Lee, a former CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction and mayor of Seoul, is well aware of Korea's image problems and has a firm resolution to increase Korea's role in the world, he said.

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[VanIslander]

polish that image until it sparkles

[crosbystillsstash]

Save the money and sort out the corruption, protectionism, nepotism, and and racism. You can't shine a turd. The money will end up in suit pockets and booking clubs any way.

Wow that's a ton of isims right there. Enough to start a hub.

[ruffie]

Korea should count its blessings, and take comfort in the fact that it doesn't have an overseas image. If the rest of the world knew about the nutty aspects of the Hermit Kingdom, both serious - such as xenophobia, crazed nationalism, racism, migrant worker abuse, sexism, and bizarre court decisions, and the silly - including fan death, Kimchee beliefs, and stamina infatuation, Korea would be an international pariah at worst, or at best a global joke.

Anyone old enough will remember how the Soviet Union was the constant butt of jokes during the 80's. Every comedian and variety show would poke fun at everything from the USSR's outdated technology to its social policies night after night. Why? Because the soviet Union was on people's minds all the time. The more Korea puts itself out there and promotes itself (the promotion materials themselves being a source of comedy and confusion) the worse Korea's rep will get. Imagine if Jay Leno, Colbert, or the writers at SNL read the Korea Times each morning. They'd have enough material for a month of shows just from one issue.

As it stands now, the internal goings on in Korea are enough to steadily erode Korea's image, as news slowly leaks out through word of mouth, and through issues that affect foreigners within Korea. Lone Star and the plight of the Indian sea captains are examples of this. But luck in on Korea's side so far. The beef protests went mostly under the radar in international news, with tiny blurbs occasionally on major news sites. Now just imagine if Great Britain or Canada had carried on like the Korean's did, with millions protesting, individuals cutting their fingers off, setting themselves on fire , and buying into bizarre falsehoods hook, line and sinker. Their international image would be in the crapper now.

So here we are again, with Koreans moaning about their lack of image, and money wasted on tourism campaigns that don't work. They don't know how lucky they are. Even the much touted Samsung and LG examples are problematic. Most outsiders think those companies are Japanese, so their image success can't really be attributed to anything inherently Korean, other than Korea's propensity for copying outside business models and research.

It's nuts that Korea insists on this quest to be well known at a time in its history when there is so much potential for damage and embarrassment, so many things that have to be changed or developed before the world is ready to take a look at a place that, in all truth, does have much potential.
It's like a disfunctional family deciding on replacing the exterior walls of their house with see-through glass. At least at the moment, the neighbors are mostly ignorant of what's happening inside. Korea should keep it that way, for its own good.

As for the sparkling pr wizards (in all likelihood foreigners) who keep fleecing Korea with misguided initiatives, they should fess up, be honest, and tell it like it is, instead of acting like the greedy dance instructor who keeps telling the mother of a gangly, bowlegged child that her kid will be the next Baryshnikov.

[bogey666]

another colossal waste of time, energy and money!

if were a snake oil salesman or marketer , I'd want to work with Korean govt. Biggest idiots on Earth.

one MAKES one's brand.

people recognize "German engineering" in cars, for e.g. because results for YEARS and years have caused this 'branding ' and reputation and no the advertisers use it.

not the other way around. Like I say - Koreans are from Mars.

if you want Seoul or Korea to get a "rep" for being cool, happening,excting,whatever.

DO it. Generate the REP ... THEN "market" and brand it.

[Pojogae]

It is testimony to the local media's - and I guess by extension the whole country's - total lack of sophistication that it never occured to the journalist to ask any questions that probed the manifold contradictions and absurdities in this campaign, such as the obvious "How the f**k does all this dovetail with country's recent outrageous court decisions involving foreigners?"

They just don't get it do they? They truly can't see that there is anything wrong. To them it is all just a consequence of some terrible external misunderstanding.

[Temporary]

Mythbusters proved this..

You can polish a turd but still in the end its still a turd.

[Jane]

[Ilsanman]

They need a group of people to teach manners and also manner police to stop people from peeing and shitting into cups in restaurants.

Also an inquiry board to take away passports from people who get into legal trouble overseas. Especially hookers.

Also stop the anchor babies. Seriously. That's just pathetic.

Fighting alcoholism might also be a step in the right direction. Most, if not all of Korea's problems stem from alcoholism.

[Poemer]

Nicely said Ruffie.

The Korean gov't needs to spend less time worrying about and trying to control what everybody else thinks the country is, and exert more actual effort in deciding/making Korea what they want it to be.

[jinks]

[caniff]

[Typhoon]

[jinks]

[hugekebab]