By Lee Jin-woo
Staff Reporter


The government Wednesday decided to adopt a new index to more efficiently promote and evaluate the nation’s overseas image.

The decision was made during the fourth meeting of the National Image Commission presided over by Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan at the Central Government Complex in Seoul.

Participants in the meeting agreed to develop the National Image Index of Korea (NIIK) and hold an international conference on the issue next year, according to officials at the Office of the Prime Minister.

Those present at the meeting were officials from nine ministries and agencies, including the Government Information Agency, and civil experts. They met again to discuss ways to improve South Korea’s overseas image.

The new index is likely to evaluate the nation’s image based on five aspects of Korean society including politics, economy, culture, society and industrial infrastructure in three main categories, people, process and product.

The participants also agreed on the need to update promotion material of South Korea in foreign countries and produce a promotion video for international events, the officials said.

As the previous promotion projects of the nation have been carried out inefficiently by various ministries, government agencies and South Korean embassies as well as by ethnic Korean groups in foreign countries, the government plans to consolidate such promotion activities under the leadership of South Korean embassys in each foreign nation, they said.

Prior to the meeting, Prime Minister Lee appointed four new members to a panel for promoting the nation’s image, a subsidy of the commission.

The four included Shin Jang-bum, president of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA); Hong Ki-wha, president of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA); Hong Eun-hee, professor at Myongji University in Seoul; and Park Young-sook, president of Fleishman-Hillard Korea, a multi-national public relations agency.

The panel is chaired by Doh Young-shim, director of the Korea Culture and Tourism Policy Institute. Its members include policymakers of state-funded and private think tanks and media representatives such as the heads of the Yonhap News Agency, cable news channel YTN and Arirang TV.

In addition, prominent figures from the private sector, such as Jeffrey Jones, chairman of Pacesetter for the Future, and Park Seok-bong, president of a popular portal Web site Empal, are members of the panel.

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