Nation branding: The South Korean example in late capitalism era

Focusing on the South Korean case, this research aims to understand the socio-political implications of nation branding activities increasingly carried out by national governments since the nineties, mostly in collaboration with civil society, particularly with national and trans-national investment groups. National brand is the commercialized version of national identity, ready to be consumed by an international audience. National identity, an element of collective belonging, is thereby transformed into a form of representation to be marketized at a global scale. This study deals with the nation branding policies and practices of South Korea by analyzing a set of events recently organized in Turkey. It looks at how South Korea was promoted in these events and communication campaigns to international investment and consumer groups. It explores the historical dynamics of the nation branding process in terms of South Korea's developmentalist policies, regional competition and distribution of power, as well as economic and diplomatic relations with Turkey. My analyses are largely based on the views and comments of event organizers and visitors. This research has employed ethnographic (participant observation and in-depth interviews) and media analysis methods. Ethnographic fieldwork involves participant observation at Korean institutions and in nation branding events that took place in Turkey (İstanbul and Ankara), as well as in-depth interviews with Koreans and Turks who work at the Korean institutions and who visited the events. The Korean media analysis, with its primary focus on the İstanbul-Gyengju World Culture Expo (2013), aims to give an account of the official discourse and public debates on the government's engagement with nation branding. The study first looks at the political and economic discourses underlying the relevant policies and practices, in order to understand how the Korean government and investment groups define their motivation for nation branding. Secondly, it examines the social reception of these policies and practices, paying attention to both Korean and Turkish public opinions. The main purposes of the nation branding events organized in Turkey are as follows: motivating and supporting the Korean companies in getting access to the Turkish market; making the Korean culture more visible through various cultural elements like Hallyu (Korean Wave), that is increasingly popular in Turkey; and the general improvement of the local conditions in Turkey to the advantage of Korean investors. With these events, South Koreans aspire to establish an image of "developed country", that is distinct from North Korea, Japan, and China. From the government's perspective, the restoration of national image is favorable not only in economic but also in political and cultural terms. The research has also demonstrated that nation branding activities, besides being viewed as essential to the reinforcement and restoration of national image, provide opportunity for redefining and strengthening the political, economic, and cultural affairs with the host country. The latter process entails the reconstruction of the national images of both countries (South Korea and Turkey) and promoting an effective representation of these renewed images in international contexts.