“Nobody has to tell you if you are number ten or number nine…you have to feel it and that’s what we are after”. This and many other things told eastwind Samuel Koo, Chairman of the Presidential Council on National Branding of Korea.
Established in 2009, the Council has started an strategical plan to promote brand Korea with the following dimensions: promotion of Taekwondo; sending 3,000 volunteers abroad on a humanitarian basis; the Korean Wave program; the Global Korea Scholarship; the Campus Asia Program; increase in external aid; development of state of the art technologies; promotion of the culture and tourism industries; helping Koreans become “global citizens;” and a drive to encourage local citizens to treat foreigners and multicultural families better.
If the effort to diferenciate Korea in other countries is increasing , it is not less strong the effort of the Government to “make Koreans feel Koreans” something ususally left behind in the strategical programs for the country brands of other nations.
“Korea is becoming an important player in the community of nations, and it’s from really across the board. In the London Olimpycs in medal standard we were five or number six. It is an important IT power, it has a very important presence in the world. And, as such what we are doing is that thereare hidden elements or not well publicised elements that we think deserve great attention. So, our focus is trying to focus there a little bit more attention. And at the same time, there are things we need to do better as government, as it is, for instance, development assistance we feel that should play a better role, said Koo.
And he continued: “At the same time, Korea has traditionally been a n isolated country, once it was called the hermetic kingdom, which means that we are not well accustomed to international practices, so here let us learn, this is the way of doing things, this is the way how the people in America live, this is the way other Asians live, this is the way Africans live. So global understanding. Such a combination of efforts, is not very artificial”….to watch the whole interview in video, click here
Image over the headline.– Samuel Koo (Chairman of the Presidential Council on National Branding of Korea).© Eastwind
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Seoul Gourmet 2012 (press conference).- Magnus Nilsson (restaurant Fäviken -Sweden-); Thomas Bühner (restaurant La Vie -Germany-); Alex Atala (restaurant D.O.M. -Brazil-); Pedro Subijana (restaurant Akelarre -Spain-); Tetsuya Wakuda (restaurant Tetsuya’s -Australia-); Akira Back (restaurant Yellow Tail at the Bellagio Hotel -Las vegas- USA); Genaro Esposito (restaurant La Torre del Saracino -Italy-) and Johan Angrell (restaurant Fäviken) answer to Eastwind questions.
Making Korean traditional rice wine at Seoul Gourmet 2012
The art of first fermentations and Korean vinegars at Seoul Gourmet 2012
The magic of Korean fermented ingredients at Seoul Gourmet 2012
Making tofu at a well reputed organic farm near Seoul
Spanish chef Pedro Subijana at Seoul Gourmet 2012 (I)
Spanish chef Pedro Subijana at Seoul Gourmet 2012 (II)
The Japanese chef Tetsuya Wakuda at Seoul Gourmet 2012
