South Korea’s Public Diplomacy Actors in Uzbekistan

Abstract

During the last decade, there has been growing academic interest in new public diplomacy, which anticipates a more collaborative approach to international relations and contributes to mutual understanding among nations and foreign publics. One of the central debates in recent public diplomacy research concerns the role and place of the new public diplomacy actors. This study aims to identify public diplomacy actors and their role in South Korea’s public diplomacy strategies in Uzbekistan, thereby providing additional insight into the implementation and development of public diplomacy mechanisms. Furthermore, the article explores and analyses the relationship between state and non-state actors to examine how these networks collaborate to promote South Korea’s national image. The findings show that South Korea has actively used cultural organizations, educational institutions, hospitals, and businesses as public diplomacy tools in Uzbekistan. The study also found that Koryŏin, or the local Korean diaspora, takes a special place in South Korea’s strategies