South Korean Perceptions of Soft Power: How the Hanguk-in See Themselves in the World

Abstract

Soft Power is an important way for countries to wield national power in the international world, especially for mid and small size countries like South Korea. This study focuses on selfevaluation and how this evaluation is affected by demographics and social status. Also, in order to avoid focusing solely on popular culture, this research used Nye’s classification of three types of Soft Power: culture, politics, and diplomacy. To sum up the results, South Koreans are more consentient that South Korea has strong political and diplomatic Soft Power when they are older or have a lower educational level. The results also imply that the government ought to make policies that can increase people’s trust in it and enhance South Korea’s Soft Power. Possible solutions might include policies to break the chain of collusive ties between politicians and businessmen, and policies to take aggressive action for foreign aid and overseas dispatches