South Korea has been very successful in promoting its national image. What can Vietnam learn?

If in the past Koreans often had to hear from foreigners questions they didn't like like 'Where is Korea?', now they often hear 'We listened to BlackPink and watched Squid game'.

Many people know Korea through the band BlackPink - Photo: Knet

Mr. Choi Seung Jin - Director of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam - said that Korea has been quite successful in promoting its national image to the world in recent times.

He shared Korea's experience at the seminar "Positioning Vietnam - Media promoting national image in the new era" held on July 10 in Hanoi .

The seminar is a step to collect comments for the draft Communication Strategy to promote Vietnam's image abroad that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is building and preparing to submit to the Government.

Director of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam shares experience in promoting Korea's national image - Photo: BTC

We listened to BlackPink and watched Squid game

Mr. Choi Seung Jin said that in the past, Koreans really did not like to hear questions from foreigners that they often had to hear such as: Are you from North Korea or South Korea? Where is Korea?...

But things have changed. Nowadays, Koreans often hear foreigners say, “We listened to BlackPink and watched Squid Game …”. Korea has been quite successful in promoting its national image abroad in recent times.

The seminar received many contributions from experts, journalists, KOLs and businesses - Photo: Organizing Committee

One of the direct policies to promote the national image is to operate the website korea.net under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea. The website is operated in 10 languages, including Vietnamese, to introduce Korea.

Since 2018, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea has been conducting regular surveys on the national image of Korea in many countries around the world. Based on these surveys, Korea will develop appropriate policies and strategies.

The Korean Embassy in Vietnam is actively cooperating with Vietnam's SChannel to enhance public diplomacy activities on digital platforms.

The Korea Tourism Organization is also very active in promoting the country's image to the world.

Indirect and long-term policies to enhance Korea's national image include: establishing the Korea International Cultural Exchange Foundation to organize many activities around the world and large-scale cultural projects.

Mr. Luong Thanh Nghi, former Vietnamese ambassador to Australia and Denmark, said that the international community hardly knows any Vietnamese brands - Photo: T.DIEU

Internationally, almost no Vietnamese brands are known.

Mr. Luong Thanh Nghi, former Vietnamese ambassador to Australia and Denmark: To do communications to position Vietnam's image abroad, first of all, we must determine a consistent and consistent message over a certain period of 5-10 years.

To promote the national image, the press is the main force, followed by KOLs and businesses.

According to Mr. Nghi, in addition to using domestic KOLs, we should also use foreign KOLs, because people trust what locals say about Vietnam more than what we say.

Mr. Nghi said many countries have very strong businesses that help promote the national image globally. But almost no one outside knows about any Vietnamese brands.

In addition, Mr. Nghi added that it is necessary to determine who is the "chief executive" in the role of promoting the national image. He also said that it is necessary to invest in building a foreign newspaper that truly has a voice to introduce the image of Vietnam abroad.

Vietnam has many good stories but does not know how to tell good stories.

From a media perspective, Dr. Do Anh Duc (Institute of Journalism and Communication, Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities) said that when communicating Vietnam's image, in addition to promoting the values ​​we have such as peace and stability, we must also show the value of the contribution from that peace and stability to the world.

Mr. Duc believes that we can communicate the value of Vietnam's contribution to humanity, which is a culture that values ​​affection and collectiveness.

Mr. Duc also noted that we need to pay attention to the way we tell stories. Vietnam has many good stories, but we do not tell them well.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/han-quoc-quang-ba-hinh-anh-quoc-gia-qua-thanh-cong-viet-nam-hoc-duoc-gi-20250710210513584.htm