Friday, April 25, 2008

Korean National image


Korea’s national image has fallen. According to Germany’s brand agency Anholt-GMI, Korea ranked 25th in the national brand power category among 35 nations in 2005, but it fell to the 32nd place among 38 nations in the last quarter of 2007. It even trails China and Mexico. Korea’s national brand is far weaker than its economic power.

To me, strong nationalism and indominatable spirit come up to my mind first when I think of my home country, the Korea.
If we confine only to the South Korea, I have to admit that those factors are seen as negativity of Korea, meanwhile they surely served as a momentum of development.
How can you describe your image of the Korea? Is it close to positive or negative?

1 comment:

Joo-Eun Kim said...

When I think about Korea, negative images come first. Instead of traditional Korean culture, what first comes to mind is the harsh education system and economic problems. Also, I think about the increasing prevalence of consumerism and boastful attitudes. Even when the income level is lower in Korea than in America, I see people spending more in Korea. Instead of saving their hard-earned salaries, Koreans are trying so hard to present themselves as citizens of an extensively developed first-world nation. nstead of living by the old ways of saving and conservation, many contemporary Koreans are trying so hard to live as if they were citizens of first-world nations; by purchasing foreign brand products, they feel they are able to show off their status. Alas, modern Korea is losing its traditional culture in its attempts to show other nations that it is some kind of westernized brand power, and in the process, the preservation and respect of traditional Korean culture is losing life.