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By Kwon Mee-yoo
Eight out of 10 people around the world assessed South Korea positively and the first thing they picked to represent the country was "hansik" (Korean food), the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) announced Tuesday.
KOCIS, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism specializing in international promotion of the country, conducted an online survey on some 8,000 people in 16 countries, asking about Korea's national image.
According to the survey, the respondents encounter Korea mostly through contemporary culture such as hallyu or fine art (36.2 percent), followed by economy (18.1 percent), national security (17.8 percent) and cultural heritage (10.7 percent).
"The result shows that soft power derived from cultural sources has become Korea's representative brand, instead of the rapid economic growth that once symbolized Korea," KOCIS said in a statement.
For the representative image of Korea, food was the most popular choice with 40 percent of votes from the international community, and others included K-pop (22.8 percent), Korean culture (19.1 percent) and beauty products (14.2 percent).
Non-Koreans in general rated Korea more positively than Koreans. About 54.4 percent of Koreans rated their own country positively, while 80.3 percent of foreigners viewed Korea positively.
Major factors for the positive image are contemporary culture, economic level, cultural heritage, Korean products and brands and the North Korean nuclear issue.
Negative issues regarding Korea were topped by the North Korean nuclear issue, followed by the political situation, international recognition and war risks.
"The North Korean nuclear issue was chosen as a positive factor for South Korea's image, considering the South Korean government's efforts to promote peace on the Korean peninsula," KOCIS said.
And the national image of Korea changed positively compared to a year ago, thanks to big events such as the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games and the inter-Korean summits.
Among nationalities, people from Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia and Thailand, South and Central American countries such as Brazil and Mexico, as well as Russia evaluated Korea's image the most positively, with over 90 percent of respondents saying they viewed Korea positively. The lowest rate was 20 percent in Japan.
The most popular method to obtain information on Korea was online media such as the internet and social media accounting for 46.6 percent, along with others such as broadcasting and printed media.
