Seoul to send 3,000 volunteers overseas to improve nation's image

(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks from President Lee Myung-bak in paras 4-7)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, March 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will send over 3,000 volunteers overseas
annually under an ambitious plan to improve its national image over the next five
years, a presidential council spearheading the campaign said Tuesday.

The country's overall brand image currently stands at 33rd among some 190
countries surveyed each year, according to the Presidential Council on Nation
Branding. Seoul is aiming to climb nearly 20 notches in the ranking.
"We will work to bring the country up to 15th place by 2013," the council said in
a report to President Lee Myung-bak.
The move follows repeated calls by the president to establish a reputation within
the international community that befits the world's 13th-largest economy.
"I believe the problem comes from the fact that our country does not have the
brand value that matches our economic status," Lee told the council meeting.
The president noted that work to improve the country's global image will address
problems facing the country now, as well as future problems it could face after
the ongoing global economic downturn comes to end.
"Every crisis has an end. It is not clear whether it will last one year or two,
but there is an end and where in the world Korea will stand after the crisis is
important," he said.
Under a 10-point action plan, the council will launch next month the "Korean
Supporters," a Peace Corps-like program that dispatches over 3,000 volunteers
overseas every year, the second largest after some 8,000 from the United States,
it said.
Some 2,000 South Koreans go abroad as volunteers every year, already the third
largest after the U.S. and Japan, but their services are rarely linked to the
country as they are dispatched by various organizations that often put their own
image before that of individual countries, the council said.
A recent poll indicated that the most serious obstacle to South Korea's
image-building efforts is ongoing tension with communist North Korea.
In a survey of 1,000 foreign expatriates in Korea, 48.4 percent said tensions
between the divided Koreas had the most negative impact on the country's image,
while 41.5 percent said political and social instability damaged its reputation.
Nearly 23 percent cited the country's long history and its culture as strong
points for attracting tourism, while some 18 percent said the country's
traditional cuisine, such as kimchi and bulgogi, deserve international promotion.
The image campaign also calls on Seoul to actively share its development
experience with developing nations to launch what it calls the "Korean economic
wave," named after the spreading popularity of Korean pop-culture across Asia.
A new scholarship program, Global Korea Scholarship, will be established for
foreign exchange students to help improve the country's image among foreign
students and scholars.
A separate program, CAMPUS Asia, will target students from neighboring Asian
countries, through which South Korea will seek to develop and recruit young,
outstanding workers and academicians.
To improve hospitality for foreign visitors and discourage rude behavior by
Koreans traveling overseas, the government will initiate a new "smile" campaign
to promote global etiquette and an improved image for South Korea.
"The country will work to counter anti-Korean sentiment in other nations by
launching a project that will help foster a sense of global citizenship among our
citizens," the council's report said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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