From Nation Building to Nation Branding: Economic Restructuring through Soft Power in the Post-97’s Crisis.

• In Event: 158. South Korea, Twenty Years after the Financial Crisis of 1997

Abstract

This article examines Korea’s efforts to overcome the financial crisis of 1997 through nation branding strategies and the creative industry. Through a series of state-led projects supported by transnational corporations, media, non-profit organizations and individual citizens, Korea was able to produce positive international images as a technologically-advanced and culturally-proper nation through nation branding strategies in Asia and beyond. Through examination of economic and cultural policies and interviews with several actors, I analyze how economic and political changes interacted with social policies aimed first at domestic integration and later at marketing the nation as a brand in the post-97’s crisis through the promotion of new industries, including games, pop culture, food, IT and tourism.

Author

• Jinwon Kim, Oberlin College