Beautiful quote here:
"We at Branding Korea believe this awareness-raising approach is a sound starting point since it resonates with the need for Korea to be known as a country before being a tourist destination."

Indeed, Korea needs to be KNOWN as a country before being a tourist destination. I feel there is a great deal of misunderstanding and ignorance about Korea all over the world, but particularly from my home country of the US. When I tell people I live in Korea, most of them are concerned for my safety and ask if I live in North Korea. Additionally, a good deal of people still think that Korea is a backwater, third-world country - at least many I've talked to have been concerned about the sanity of food, water, toilets, and so on here - but much of that is probably due their assumption that North Korea is a major influence on life here.

In the US, North Korea is the first thing that generally pops into people's minds when someone mentions "Korea" because of political and media coverage that focuses on the North. Additionally, when I was in university, I Minored in "Asian Studies" over 3 years, but the only information I studied about Korea was a single chapter in a 20-chapter book on "Asian history" that focused mostly on Japan and China. When I arrived in Korea 4 years ago, I didn't even know the dates of the Korean War - in which my country participated heavily - I only knew that it had happened. It seems to be something of a forgotten war, at least in my small town in Wyoming.

Therefore because I'm from such a small town (20,000 people), my view may be slightly skewed from that of residents of big cities, but there is no doubt that China and Japan are far better known the world over than Korea is (and therefore are more highly viewed as tourist destinations). And because of North Korea, the South's reputation suffers and good PR it might receive can be quickly overshadowed by the bad PR that North Korea constantly seems to be creating.

Nevertheless, Korea must be KNOWN as a country before becoming a top tourist destination, and introducing curiosity into the minds of potential tourists is a great way to start.

How about giving us a rundown of the discussion. Do you have a transcript? Key points? I'd love to know if/what direction Korea's brand will be taking, and who will be participating. I agree that coordinated messages and long-term strategies are needed, but how can I (we) expats in Korea participate? Many of us are equally disappointed with Korea's lack of a strong brand, and confusing multiple campaigns and slogans. Branding a nation is no easy task and needs sufficient time to prepare a truly great brand.

I definitely agree with your points here. Korea needs to stop thinking short-term and start thinking long-term. They need to stop coming up with new initiatives, slogans, logos, and event campaigns, and concentrate on creating a very strong, long-term, memorable, national brand that spreads beyond only tourism campaigns and posters. Additionally, Korea needs to consider their target audiences for whom they are branding.

They need international (not only Korean) talent that knows Korea from having lived for years in Korea - and not just choose a reputable company that can research it (I must admit I was quite disappointed by Interbrand's boasting on their site of their work on the "Korea Sparkling" brand - which as you pointed out, many "felt that the nation's identity was misrepresented"). Additionally, Korea needs to not focus solely on Seoul tourism (I live in Jeonju) because Korea is far more than Seoul (although I know that the majority of Koreans believe that all life begins and ends in Seoul).

Korea has so much to offer tourists, but unfortunately, their national brand(s) aren't the power-houses they should be to spark interest Korea and become the next big Asian tour destination.