The report "South Korean Public Diplomacy: a brief assessment from the Brazilian perspective" is a result from the third project in partnership with The Korea Foundation (KF), and such study was made possible thanks to the grant and all support provided by the KF.
In the author's words,"the report will be divided into four sections. The first session, “Conceptual Approach”, aims to provide a clearer view over the main concepts used here. Public Diplomacy, Nation Branding and Soft Power, as we will see further on, have been among some of the most popular concepts in International Relations in last couple of decades. But what do they really mean? What have been the implications of using soft power as a key strategy in one’s foreign policy? How does it differ and/or relate from public diplomacy and other concepts such as nation branding? What dividends those concepts bring to the table?
The second session will focus on South Korea’s policies from the perspective of its public diplomacy, thus also from its soft power initiatives. As we will see, the cultural policies/industry will have a key role here. To clarify this relationship, we shall present the chronology of the initiatives, policies and organizational development from each government, beginning in the aftermath of the Korean War until the last government. In this session, we aim to give a more cohesive view of the process that its public diplomacy underwent through time, thus allowing us to understand its evolutionary process.
The third and last session will be dedicated to an overview of South Korea’s public diplomacy and its soft power initiatives towards Brazil and, to a lesser extent, to some Latin American countries. Here we will present official data and information that will help us to produce a snapshot of the recent trends of Korea’s soft power efforts directed to the region.
Last but not least, it is important to mention that one of the most sensitive issues in South Korea’s public diplomacy and foreign policy is its relationship with North Korea. This relation has undergone diverse approaches and chapters, nonetheless, it always remained a priority for both players. Notwithstanding, since the objective of this report is more narrowly focused on the policies and initiatives from South Korea toward Brazil and the LAC region, it will not address the North Korean component of the South’s public policy. The North-South Korea relationship deserves a report on its own, and including this topic in this volume could risk this report losing the sight of its priorities."
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