In the 21st century, as the world is driven by knowledge-based economy and globalization, the publicity of a country took on a paramount importance in order to stay competitive. In order to survive-and thrive in the world today, a nation needs to find a way to stay in limelight in the international scene and become competitive among its neighboring countries. This public image in essence is a representation of a country; and given today's competitive environment, a country without a strong identity or with a weak credibility with other nations becomes marginalized and insignificant.
Despite of the fact that Korea's meteoric rise from one of the poorest country to the 12th largest economy, invention of world's first printing press, ingenious Korean alphabet, and other incredible achievements, many remember the atrocious Korean War and recognize Korea as the nation with incessant, hostile labor disputes and other violent demonstrations. The reason for Korea's negative image is due to lack of development and management to enlighten the surrounding nations that Korea is not a country of labor disputes and violent demonstrations. Korea has not done anything to try to change the image that it gives to the other nations.
The purpose of the country's public relations is to maintain international communication which is based on the image of a country by emphasizing the positive aspects of Korea's political issues, economy, society, culture, and history to other countries to prevent friction and disputes. Also, the purpose of national public relations lies in heralding accurate portrayal of nation's political, economical, historical and cultural background by employing various organizations. This is vital in preventing any conflicts that may arise out of misunderstanding or miscommunication and promoting positive traits of a nation.
This public relations serves many purposes: politically, it serves to bolster security by facilitating understanding among nations and advocating cooperation through the media and economically, it paves the road for domestic companies to establish themselves abroad and helps companies form a positive brand image by associating with their home country.
From a cultural perspective, smart, public relations establishes foundations in other nations for various cultural to take hold of. So national public relations not only functions as an effective communication method to help nations to cooperate but it also works as a way for nations to persuade others in international political forum. Despite of the importance of national pubic relations in diplomacy, many countries fail to utilize public relations to their advantage because they don't have a department responsible for it. The departments involved in international matters are: Korean Overseas Information Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The departments involved in international affairs have become obsolete since they are involved in similar fields but have no communication with each other. Also, the image of the country is not being presented in the best possible light as there is no leading department in charge to overlook other departments involved in public relations. Another problem is that the organizations currently running public relations are not professional publicists.
I have come up with six different strategies using: information-based society theory, cultural theory, and comparative management. First of all, I am going to construct a theory based on our own, more personal needs. I will create programs and contests that concern younger foreigners in order to stimulate their interest in Korea. Secondly, I will emphasize the image of a Dynamic Korea. By hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the world has seen what a great country Korea is. Using this to our advantage, we must use this to build momentum for greater achievements. Thirdly, we must establish an international media broadcasting system. This broadcast system must be comprehensive and requires cooperation among national organizations specifically involved in public relations. This, in turn will lead to the creation of a strong mass media network. Fourth, in order to ensure accurate information, we are required to create a center for Korean correspondents. Fifth, we must create a network among international elites in different areas in order to respond and cater to international and domestic changes. Lastly, we are obligated to evaluate these and future achievements on a government level.
All these strategies would be managed under one organization with six different divisions to implement them. Through continuous and frequent conferencing and constant communication, this organization will spearhead national public relations strategies. Actual public relations would parcel and carry out by lower level sections. However, the design, control, and managing of comprehensive outlines must be carried out by professional publicists.
For all of these reasons, there is a need to create a Korean Overseas PR Communication Unit which will use these six strategies to comprehensively manage and develop Korean public relations.