Monday’s Society and Culture: Compared With What?
One thing that I have always been befuddled by is the seemingly insurmountable need for Korea to compare itself to other places and things. Korea is currently very concerned about its “Brand Image” or how the rest of the world perceives Korea. Unfortunately, and I truly mean that, a large part of the world perceives Korea to be backward, inferior, and laughable. In many ways, Korea is seen to be the misfit who tries desperately to make other people like him by trying to show that he is just as cool as the more popular people, rather than being himself and standing on his own merits.
The people that are in charge of the PR and marketing of Korea to the rest of the world need to be done away with because they are clearly incompetent and have no concept of what is appealing or attractive to foreigners. If it is not stupid slogans that mean absolutely nothing to anyone except the people that thought of them, such as “Hi Seoul” along with its “Taste the Seoul” festival (eww…), the new “IT’s Korea” slogan about which many have said, “IT’s a Mistake.”, or the completely vague “Dynamic Korea“, it is Korea’s pointless and misguided comparisons. These comparisons that are done to legitimize parts of Korea only serve to highlight the reasons for not visiting Korea or dealing with Korea.
Some VERY common comparisons are:
Jeju Island is the Hawaii of Korea and
Jeju’s harubang statutes are the Easter Island of Korea
Pusan is the San Francisco of Korea
Gwangan Bridge is the Golden Gate Bridge of Korea (or as some say, it is better than the Golden Gate)
Lotte World is the Disneyland of Korea
Everland is the Disneyland of Korea
Uhm Jung-hwa is the Madonna of Korea
Seo Taiji is the Michael Jackson of Korea
Myeong-dong is the Rodeo Drive of Korea
Apgujeong-dong is the Rodeo Drive of Korea
Teheran Street is the Silicon Valley of Korea
Inchon’s Media Valley is the Silicon Valley of Korea
The Central Region’s Gumi Industrial Complex is the Silicon Valley of Korea
Daejeon is the Silicon Valley of Korea
Taedok Science Town is the Silcon Valley of Korea
The list could go on and on, but I think the point is made. What the Korea promoters seem to fail to realize is that if I want to see Hawaii, I am going to the REAL Hawaii, not the Hawaii of Korea. If I want to go to Disneyland, I will go to the REAL Disneyland. If I want to see the Golden Gate Bridge, I will go to the REAL Golden Gate Bridge. I do not want to go to some place that compares itself to the original, and obviously superior, place. People are not going to travel from Hawaii to Korea just so they can go to the Hawaii of Korea! Someone is not going to fly from the US to go to the Disneyland of Korea when the REAL Disneyland is much closer and cheaper to get to!
Korea only does a great disservice to itself when it markets itself in this way. Korea has so many beautiful and interesting things to see that stand out on their own. Korea has a some beautiful landscapes that haven’t yet been turned into amusement parks or tourist attractions. There are some incredibly interesting UNESCO sites. Some of the old villages (not the hokey folk villages) are absolutely breathtaking.
Korea is one of the world’s largest economies. Korea is at the top of the charts in several important industries. Korea does not need to ride on the coattails of anyone else ever again. It is time for Korea to stand on its own and show the world that the world should come here because Korea is KOREAN not because it is just like somewhere else! Show what is unique about Korea, not what is the same as everywhere else. Have a little confidence in yourself! Have a little well-placed pride in your differences (and NO! having four distinct seasons is NOT unique to Korea or a viable marketing point).