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Launch of Korea Foundation Translation Series

The 11th Korea Foundation Forum featured Professor Jan Melissen as the guest speaker, in conjunction with a book-launch event to commemorate the publication a Korean edition of his “The New Public Diplomacy: Soft Power in International Relations,” which represented the initial project of the Korea Foundation Translation Series.



The 11th KF Forum was presented together with a book-launch event to commemorate the publication of a Korean edition of “The New Public Diplomacy: Soft Power in International Relations,” as the initial project of the Korea Foundation Translation Series. As for the original book in English, it was edited by Professor Jan Melissen, the guest speaker of the forum.
The forum and book launch event, held at the Sung-joon and Yonsei University Professor Kim Kijung, the editorial supervisor of the Korean edition. Following his introduction, Professor Jan Melissen took the podium with an English edition of his book in his hand. With a broad smile, he showed the audience his original book, while remarking how much more he liked the color and size of the Korean version, and expressing his appreciation for the new edition.

Korea Foundation Translation Series
Since i ts establ ishment in 1991, the Korea Foundation, as a representative public diplomacy organization in Korea, has made concerted efforts to enhance international awareness of and understanding about Korea. In line with this goal, the Foundation implements a diverse array of people-to-people and cultural exchange programs, along with extending support to build up Korean Studies programs abroad. To supplement its existing programs, the Foundation has launched a project that supports the translation and publication of relevant books and materials on public diplomacy, for the purpose of making recent information about this subject available to related specialists and readers in Korea.
In the 21st century, the practitioners of public diplomacy are not simply the governments, specified organizations or individuals in their official capacities. In fact, every individual of the public is an important element and advocate of today’s public diplomacy, in which the importance of non-tangible “soft power” has come to supplant the traditional “hard power,” built mainly on military and economic strength. For this reason, the Korea Foundation has initiated the Korea Foundation Translation Series program in order to systematically introduce noteworthy publications on public diplomacy, and thereby assist the Korean public, in their own promotion of public diplomacy, as well as the efforts of our policy makers to advance Korea’s strategic interests.

‘The New Public Policy: Soft Power in International Relations’
The first project of the Korea Foundation Translation Series is “The New Public Diplomacy: Soft Power in International Relations,” edited by Jan Melissen. With an overview of the concepts of public diplomacy and the related strategy measures of various countries, it includes a wealth of information on this subject. Moreover, in contrast to similar books on public diplomacy, it focuses much attention on the experiences of middle power countries, which are more applicable to Korea’s situation.
Part I features Jan Melissen’s introduction of today’s public diplomacy, followed by Brian Hocking’s analyses of public diplomacy principles. Part II includes five articles on the public diplomacy practices of various countries, including the United States, Canada, Norway, China, the EU, and intermediate powers. Part III presents discussions on the potential applications of public diplomacy: Cynthia Schneider on U.S. cultural diplomacy, Wally Olins on nation branding, Sean Riordan on public diplomacy as a collaborative foreign policy paradigm, and John Hemery on suitable training for public diplomacy efforts and desirable initiatives.
The book thus provides an opportunity to reflect upon Korea’s soft power and ways to enhance the status of Korea for foreign policy makers, public diplomacy organizations, and “citizen diplomats.” In addition, the book’s ive examination of the effectiveness of public diplomacy efforts and the strategies of individual countries can serve as a framework for the development of public diplomacy policy and directions that are tailored to Korea’s particular circumstances.

21st Century Public Diplomacy
At the 11th KF Forum, Professor Jan Melissen provided an overview of his book, along with commentary on Korea’s public diplomacy activities. Public diplomacy can be better understood when it is contrasted with traditional diplomacy. Traditional diplomacy involves a series of negotiations, in which official diplomats use military and economic capability to persuade the representatives of other governments. On the other hand, public diplomacy, or soft power, includes the participation of NGOs and individual citizens in regard to the promotion of cultural influences under an indirect approach.
As such, public diplomacy seeks to win over the civil society of other countries, rather than their government officials.
With public diplomacy, more subtle and indirect ways are used to enhance understanding about a country’s stance, culture, and policy in order to sway public opinion. Therefore, public diplomacy has been referred to as a “socialization” of diplomacy, in which civil society is no longer isolated from or a secondary consideration of diplomatic affairs. Accordingly, foreign affairs officials need to better integrate civil society into a country’s public diplomacy. Of course, forms of public diplomacy have been used in the past, like the “ancien régime” of France.
In the aftermath of World War II, Germany actively sought to restore its international image, and Japan has heavily invested in cultural diplomacy to improve its global standing. Public diplomacy in the 21st century, however, has been upgraded, in comparison to its past forms. In particular, past practices focused on one-sided communication with foreign parties. But today, the emphasis is on two-way interaction and indirectly garnering public support. Moreover, public participation is essential for the positive promotion of national identity, a key component of public diplomacy.



Korea’s Public Diplomacy
In essence, public diplomacy depends on the ability to communicate effectively with the peoples of other countries through the application of soft power measures. To realize soft power’s potential and to cast the country in a favorable light, Korea must consider several factors. Korea is leading middle power, but not a superpower. And it is not a balancer, among East Asia’s superpowers, or at the forefront of the region’s political situation. Nevertheless, Korea does have certain advantages as compared to the region’s larger powers. It maintains a close relationship with the U.S., which has struggled to exert its influence over the global order, despite its superpower. Meanwhile, China’s soft power is thought to be a ploy to mask its true geopolitical and international ambitions. And Japan continues to be burdened by its past history. As for Korea, however, it is relatively free of past responsibility. In addition, Korea is widely respected for its “economic miracle.” The North Korean issue, often cited as a negative, may provide an opportunity for Korea to promote consensus-building and focus international attention on the Korean Peninsula. Korea is also open to the cultures of other countries. As such, Korea possesses an attractive array of soft power resources.
Korea needs to carefully benchmark the successful cases of public diplomacy by other middle powers, such as Canada, Spain, and Norway. Canada actively contributed to discussions on major international issues, such as human rights, establishment of the ICC, and the anti-mine treaty, and thus elevated its global status, despite often being overshadowed by the neighboring U.S. Korea should find ways to contribute to regional and international issues in a similar manner. In addition, there are lessons to be learned from Spain’s democratization and Norway’s ascension as a “humanitarian superpower.”
As for nation branding strategy, which has recently attracted attention in Korea as well, Korea needs to study the strategy of other countries and carefully formulate its own approach. Nation branding is important for a country’s image, but too much emphasis on nation branding can cause public diplomacy to focus too narrowly on onesided communication. It should be remembered that publ ic diplomacy depends on mutual communication, while nation branding activities tend to involve unilateral publicity.

Promotion of Public Diplomacy
Public diplomacy calls for a well thought out strategy, so as to avoid four common problem.
First, the traditional diplomacy culture is resistant to change and therefore might be reluctant to embrace public diplomacy and its new approach. Second, there can be difficulty in adjusting existing practices. Public diplomacy is typically implemented by the information sections of foreign affairs ministries, which normally disseminate information through such media as leaflets, pamphlets, and DVDs.
However, conventional information media are not effective enough, meaning that new media must be developed. Public diplomacy also involves a delegation of the government’s control, and it thus can be difficult to assign the responsibility for public diplomacy to the public and nongovernmental groups.
Third, civil society does not trust foreign officials. The public is not interested in the messages of foreign-service officials of other countries and may even express considerable skepticism. As such, strategic and indirect means should be developed to approach the public in countries abroad. In this regard, cooperation with nongovernmental organizations in other countries might be helpful. Finally, image building is a difficult process. A country cannot fully control how its image might be perceived by the civil society and government of another country. It is therefore necessary to cooperate with the civil society of another country in order to indirectly shape public opinion. In fact, even with 10 or 20 years of experience in public diplomacy, its successful implementation is no easy matter. As for Korea, it needs to learn from the experiences of other countries and develop a public diplomacy strategy that is suited to its particular situation.

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