 Park Eung-kyuk, president of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), delivers a speech during an international conference titled “Public Relations Strategy: Building Government Trust and Communication between Government and Citizens,” at the Press Center in central Seoul, Thursday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Park Si-soo
President Lee Myung-bak has emphasized the significance of communications between the government and the general public since the months-long angry protests against the resumption of U.S. beef imports in 2008.
However, many ambitious state projects are still mired by strong public opposition in what appear to be a result of the government’s lack of public relations skills and relevant expertise, according to experts.
In order to help the authorities find a breakthrough, communications experts at home and abroad gathered at an international conference on public relations strategy in downtown Seoul, Thursday.
“Korea has been praised for killing two birds with one stone in a short period of time,” said Park Eung-kyuk, president of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), referring to the country’s quick economic development and democracy. “But it now suffers from social division and conflict. Needed at this time is seeking social integration for sustainable national development.”
He cited mounting public distrust in the government as a major cause of social disharmony. “Appealing to the public for understanding and support for what is done by the government needs to be done in a more positive fashion,” Park said.
KIPA hosted the conference to celebrate the 20th founding anniversary under the theme, “Public Relations Strategy: Building Government Trust and Communications Between Government and Citizens.” The Korea Times sponsored the event.
Yook Dong-han, vice minister for government policy at the Prime Minister’s Office, echoed the view, saying the government needs not only to “build trust between central and local governments for balanced national development, but also to have effective communication with business and civil society and to establish a good relationship with the mass media.”
Professor Grant Reeher from Syracuse University in the United States said public trust in the government was at an all-time low from the 1980s to l990s, but the country overcame over the situation with a fresh yet risky way of communicating: “Be authentic and share the bad stuff.”
Park June-young, a researcher from Chung-Ang University, urged the government to increase its communications capacity. “The state should improve the expertise and authority of its spokespeople and communications team in each ministry,” said Park.
Professor Sohn Dong-young from Hanyang University suggested the use of social media to widen communications with the public. “The environment (of PR) has changed,” he said, citing CNN’s research result that 87 percent of news sharing through social media was done by “frequent sharers” who accounted for 27 percent of the users.
“Frequent sharers are not limited to the younger age bracket, but encompass a wide range of the demographic,” said Sohn.
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