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Nation branding in the COVID-19 era: South Korea’s pandemic public diplomacy

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  • Seow Ting Lee

    (University of Colorado at Boulder)

  • Hun Shik Kim

    (University of Colorado at Boulder)

Abstract

In a global pandemic, public health outcomes are not the only variables at stake. Also at stake are countries’ nation brands and influence, which hinge on how a country responded to the crisis. Based on a case study of a middle power, South Korea, one of the more successful COVID-19 national responses so far, we offer an exploratory conceptual explication of pandemic public diplomacy that is grounded in a normative framework of substance, information, trust, collaboration, and mutual benefit. Sentiment analyses of social media and international news media suggest that the country is perceived as a model on how to cope with the pandemic by international audiences. Unlike other public diplomacy contexts, pandemic public diplomacy challenge conventional assumptions about public diplomacy and nation branding. As nation-states confront a common enemy, how public diplomacy and nation branding play out in COVID-19—arguably the most socially disruptive event in modern history—helps to shed light on the dynamics of mutual interdependence in an interconnected yet competitive world fraught with fear, uncertainty, and information deficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Seow Ting Lee & Hun Shik Kim, 2021. "Nation branding in the COVID-19 era: South Korea’s pandemic public diplomacy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(4), pages 382-396, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:pbapdi:v:17:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1057_s41254-020-00189-w
    DOI: 10.1057/s41254-020-00189-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nye, Joseph S., 2008. "Public Diplomacy and Soft Power," Scholarly Articles 11738397, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    2. Vaughan, E. & Tinker, T., 2009. "Effective health risk communication about pandemic influenza for vulnerable populations," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(S2), pages 324-332.
    3. Hun Shik Kim, 2018. "When public diplomacy faces trade barriers and diplomatic frictions: the case of the Korean Wave," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(4), pages 234-244, November.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Boonyanit Mathayomchan & Viriya Taecharungroj & Walanchalee Wattanacharoensil, 2023. "Evolution of COVID-19 tweets about Southeast Asian Countries: topic modelling and sentiment analyses," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 317-334, September.

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