KoreaToday Korea Undervalued in West, Needs More Attention

By Na Jeong-ju

Staff Reporter

Policymakers here have long complained about South Korea's ``low'' status in the world.

Despite its rapid economic growth over the past decades, the country is still widely unknown to the majority of people in Europe and the West. Ironically, it is mainly the negative news about North Korea that draws Western public attention to the Korean Peninsula. Many positive features of South Korea remain unnoticed.

The situation causes many problems. Some conglomerates are reluctant to reveal their origin due to concerns about the country's ``bad'' image abroad. Local financial firms have to pay higher interest than their global competitors to borrow the same amount of funds.

However, critics say Korea itself is to blame for the so-called Korea Discount.

Prior to the Asian currency crisis a decade ago, Korea had been criticized for opaque accounting and financial disclosure systems, which caused the equity market to be highly undervalued by global investors. A lack of investor confidence in corporate governance structures weighed down the financial market.

President Lee Myung-bak and his administration believe Korea will gain huge additional economic benefits only by enhancing the country's global image. The government launched the Presidential Council on Nation Branding in January and Lee named former Korea University President Euh Yoon-dae as its chairman.

The council unveiled bold measures to upgrade Korea's international status, playing a central role in coordinating state policies on overseas promotion.

Back in 2005, when the shift from ``Dynamic Korea'' to ``Korea Sparkling'' was being discussed, many foreign experts were invited to share their thoughts. However, despite a good analysis of the situation and the problems, arguably all attempts at finding a solution have so far been largely unsuccessful.

So how should Korea go about making a breakthrough?

According to Professor Rudiger Frank of the East Asian Institute at the University of Vienna, who has advised the Korean government on its global promotion campaigns, the boosting of its image as a crucial part of East Asia can be a solution.

``What makes Japan and China so attractive to Europeans is not only themselves, but to a large degree their association with East Asia,'' the professor told The Korea Times. ``The validity of the term `East Asia' is secondary. If we look at `Malaysia, Truly Asia', we see how this country is enormously successful in its image campaign while operating on a term that is even fuzzier.''

Frank said the attractiveness of China and Japan has made East Asia popular.

``In fact, many Europeans cannot really tell the difference between the two. A beautiful example is a German edition of Sun Tzu's `The Art of War' that I keep in my office, showing a Japanese Samurai on its cover. Of course, Sun Tzu was a Chinese warrior who lived 2,500 years ago, while the Samurai were Japanese warriors who emerged only roughly 1,500 years after Sun Tzu died. But this is all East Asia in the minds of those who buy such books without caring too much about the details.

``Needless to say that such grave errors can drive an educated person mad, but they also teach us a useful lesson. East Asia is a much more powerful brand than China or Japan,'' said Frank.

Europeans have been in touch with China and Japan for many centuries. Accordingly, powerful idealistic ideas about these countries and their cultures have been created in Europe that led to trends among the upper class and its later emulation by the masses.

Tea, porcelain, Confucius, Shaolin, Buddhism, Samurai, Ninja, lacquer ware, silk, Chinese characters etc. all have become highly popular images that are associated with China or Japan.

``The actual correctness and adequateness of such idealistic stereotypes does not matter for the general public,'' said Frank, also an adjunct professor at Korea University. ``It will be virtually impossible to modify views that are so deeply embedded in the minds of the majority, especially since they are not their everyday priority.

``Korea has never played a role in this context, so the successful Korea of today cannot build on a long tradition of interest in Europe. This creates a serious problem. Many Korean achievements, names, brands are not known as such. In the worst case, they are even wrongly associated with Japan or China,'' Frank said.

Many European universities have actually discovered this fact and have started reacting. They create programs on East Asia, in addition to the existing ones that focus exclusively on China, Japan and Korea. However, the dominance of China and Japan is reflected in these new programs.

``They often are light versions of Chinese and Japanese studies. The Korea content is relatively small, if it exists at all,'' Frank said.

Korea still has a lot of potential to appeal to foreigners, he said.

``While North Korea is an example of Communism, authoritarianism, a centrally planned economy and a confrontational foreign policy, South Korea is a prime example of how rapid development can be achieved, for a peaceful transformation from totalitarianism to a democracy, for a vibrant market economy and a cooperative approach to international relations,'' Frank said. ``Korea reflects what has happened and is happening in China and Japan. It is in many ways the focal point of these countries' policies and issues. Hallyu, or the Korean culture wave, has spread across the region and substantially enhances Korea's soft power.''

In this sense, Korea's plans to increase economic aid to underdeveloped nations around the world and send more volunteers abroad for goodwill activities will help make a difference, he added.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr