[Press release] Presidential Council on Nation Branding Hold a Conference on Korea’s National Brand

Dear Journalists,

Please find enclosed press release spread by Edelman Korea on behalf of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding regarding the Conference on Korea’s National Brand.

The conference will be held on October 27 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Grand Hilton Hotel and the purpose of the conference is to reduce confusion between North and South Korea, address recent topics of concern, and strengthen South Korea’s overall international reputation and image.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Thank you.

Best Regards,
Edelman Korea

For immediate release

G20 countries confuse South and North Korea
-PCNB to host conference on how North affects South's nation brand

◦ In 2008, French Football League (LFP), posted an image of the North Korean national flag on its official webpage, frenchleague.com, alongside the profile of the South Korean striker Park Chu-young of AS Monaco.

◦ Distorted images of the South travel rapidly through mega hit U.S. television shows (Herald Business, Oct. 21, 2010)
An episode of the "CSI" series even featured a North Korean propaganda song praising the communist country's Workers' Party, with the background of a U.S. Korean town.

◦ More than 60 percent of the photo images found by searching for the word "Korea" on flickr.com, one of the largest photo-sharing sites in the world, are about the North.

◦ When Benson Lee, a Korean-American documentary film director well known for "Planet B-Boy (2007)," asked non-korean passersby in Time Square about how much did they know about Korea, earlier this year, for his upcoming film, more than a half of them replied that they didn't know the country well, while quite a few of those said "yes" to the question said they knew Kim Jong-il well.

◦ Smartphones become medium for North's propaganda (Donga Ilbo, Oct. 6, 2010)
North Korea is recently enhancing its capability to engage in psychological warfare using smartphone-based social network services.

◦ Korean Central News Agency of DPRK launches English and Spanish news services (Daily NK, Oct. 14, 2010) North Korea allowed the live broadcasting of the military parade held on October 10, which was to celebrate the foundation of its Workers' Party, in order to propagandize successor Kim Jong-eun domestically and internationally, and also to display its confidence that it can maintain the system through the third generation succession.

□ The Presidential Council on Nation Branding (chairwoman: Lee Bae-yong), from 2 p.m. on Oct. 27, will host a Conference on Korea's National Brand at the Grand Hilton Seoul hotel, to discuss influences of the upcoming G20 Seoul Summit and North Korea-related issues on the South's nation brand.

□ The event featuring several rounds of academic discussions co-presented by the Korean Society for Journalism & Communication Studies, the Korea Academy of International Business, Korea Advertising Society and the Korean Association of North Korean Studies has been designed to provide an insight into how situations surrounding the Korean Peninsula (including the North's move to clear way for the third generation of the 'Kim dynasty.'

□ Although South Korea, this year's G20 chair, is increasingly viewed as one of Asia's strongest economies, prevalent confusion between the North and the South often cause harms to the South's nation brand all over the globe. It is especially the case when the North is seeking to enhance its promotional capability for its third generation leader. Under the condition, the forum is meant to promote the South's distinctive identity outside the peninsula and seek ways to further its multidimensional efforts to build stronger overseas brand recognition of the country.

□ "The G20 Seoul Summit in November will be a meaningful event for developing a stronger nation brand of (South) Korea, as true images of Korea will be promoted both intensively and extensively through the event," said Lee Bae-yong, chairwoman of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding. We have come up with the forum partly in fear of negative effects of situations around the peninsular, especially those related to North Korea's third-generation hereditary succession, on our nation brand," she added.

□ The Presidential Council on Nation Branding will continue its efforts to provide constructive places of discussion and debate, in which people with various different professions join to discuss ways to build a stronger brand identity of the country.

PCNB,Presidential Council on Nation Branding of Korea

The national brand of a particular country directly affects the world’s attitude toward its people, companies and products. As the national brand of Korea rises in standing, Korean people and companies will have greater respect and prestige, and its products and services will command a higher premium.

Edelman Korea
18th Floor, Ferrum Tower 66, Suha-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, 100-210, Korea
+82220228213

This release was published on openPR.