ADRN

Jan Melissen

A Dutch scholar renowned for his research on public diplomacy said every country including South Korea has to realize the importance of public diplomacy as it has become a central element of diplomatic practice today.   "Foreign ministries in the world pay more attention to their countries' reputation overseas. But the government can't decide what other people think about Korea," Jan Melissen, director of the Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Program of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, told The Korea Times.   The way of improving a country's reputation is through public diplomacy as it is defined as work aimed at influencing in a positive way the perceptions of individuals and organizations abroad about one's country and their engagement with it.

 

In this sense, Melissen said public diplomacy can be seen as the instrumentalization of soft power, namely the power of one's attraction and reputation overseas. Harvard University professor Joseph Nye coined soft power ― a contrasting concept to hard power ― as representing cultural influences that can be a successful tool for national interest.

 

Though Melissen agreed that the 9/11 terrorist attacks put public diplomacy as an important agenda for each country, he stressed that public diplomacy has, in fact, nothing to do with war on terror.

 

Turning to Korea's public diplomacy, Melissen said Korea has a good starting point because it doesn't have a significant problem of how it is perceived such as Japan with its burdened history.

 

"South Korea's economic miracle, good level of democracy and stability are something that many other countries would like to have," he said. "But I can also imagine one of the main problems facing South Korea is that it is a small nation between big powers, Japan and China."

 

He suggested the priority for Korea in terms of public diplomacy should be more than just tourist promotion or nation branding and encouraged the Korean government, academics and others concerned to study and develop a strategy tailored to Korea's needs.

 

Melissen visited Seoul for the first time Monday to attend a round table on soft power in Northeast Asia organized by the Korea Foundation and East Asia Institute. He left Korea for the Netherlands Wednesday.