By Na Jeong-ju

The concept of "nation branding" has become increasingly familiar here as the government has introduced various programs to promote Korea's economic and social achievements abroad, and to attract foreign visitors and investment.

In terms of global image, however, Korea lags behind its multinational firms such as Samsung, LG, SK and Hyundai.

Policymakers, led by the Presidential Council on Nation Branding, have focused on reducing the gap and preventing the firms from receiving unfair treatment just because they are from South Korea.

Lee Bae-yong, the new chairwoman of the council, believes Korea can ease such a misunderstanding by promoting cultural exchanges.

"One reason for the lack of a broader knowledge of Korea is that even though the country has succeeded in building a strong industrial base and many successful global brands, it failed to communicate with the world properly," Lee said in an interview at the head office of The Korea Times last Thursday.

"We need to use our rich cultural heritage to make Korea more familiar among foreigners. Our food, culture and history can be effective communication tools in drawing their interest."

As part of preparations for the G20 Seoul Summit, the government has launched a campaign to help Koreans learn globally accepted norms and etiquette, and have an international mindset. Foreigners feel more comfortable about living in Korea than in the past, but there are still many things to improve.

In recent years, Korean firms have increased their global market share thanks to price competitiveness. They will be able to focus on more value-added products if Korea's global image gets better.

"Our ultimate goal is to make Korea a globally respected and beloved country. Regrettably, it has a long way to go," said the former president of Ewha Womans University.

According to Lee, Korea's economy has grown rapidly in recent decades, but its global contributions are not commensurate with its economic power. Korea's hardware has grown quickly, but its software development has been too slow.

Improving Korea's global status will be very helpful in closing the gap, and one of the keys to solving the problem is to raise awareness about the country's culture and history among foreigners, she said.

The questions and answers from the interview are as follows.

Q: Do you have any ideas for improving the country's brand value? What's in your mind in addition to the projects that have been undertaken by the branding council?

A: When it comes to a nation's brand, we can evaluate it by two criteria ― hardware and software. So far, the council has mainly focused on developing hardware ― that is economic development.

The strategy was necessary to make people understand what a nation's brand means to our economic players who have long been undervalued in overseas markets.

Based on the past achievements, I will seek ways to take our campaign to a higher level by focusing on software.

As a history professor, I have long been involved in the research of liberal arts, humanities and culture. I believe in the power of education. We can make a change for the better by educating people. The change won't be made suddenly but will occur very slowly. Education will change our minds and behavior.

We also need to use our rich cultural heritage to come closer to the rest of the world. Our culture can be an effective tool to better promote ourselves globally and I think that's the integral part of software development.

The economy is important, but what really matters to make Korea a respected country is culture. We need to strengthen cultural exchanges to make foreigners better understand us.

In doing so, we must know our history and cultural heritage. I will focus on developing cultural content and introduce programs to promote them around the world.

Hillary Clinton

Q: You successfully boosted Ewha's partnership with prestigious schools worldwide in exchange programs to provide more students with opportunities to study there while you served as Ewha's president. Can you tell us more about the global outreach programs?

A: Founded 124 years ago in 1886, Ewha was the first modern educational institution for Korean women and has since grown to become the world's largest women-only institute of higher learning.

Under the "Global Ewha 2010" project, I focused on expanding the school's international outreach programs in major cities around the world including Beijing, Tokyo, London and New York. The project has been very successful and we could solidify friendship with top universities worldwide.

One of its key programs was to invite globally famous female figures to our school so that our students can learn from them.

I still vividly remember when Hillary Clinton gave a lecture to Ewha students in February last year. She was visiting Seoul as part of her Asian tour.

The lecture was full of her enthusiasm and passion for her work and family. I was very impressed at her character.

As she graduated from Wellesley College, a university for women, as well, she thought giving a lecture at Ewha very special.

Dressed in a vivid red suit, Clinton urged students in the speech to show interest in international issues and figure out how they can devote themselves to society.

Before she came to Seoul, we offered to give her an honorary doctorate. She really wanted to get it, but couldn't because it wasn't allowed for public officials to receive such academic credentials from foreign schools while on a tour.

Instead we offered to give her the status of an honorary student and she gladly accepted it. So she became an alumna to all Ewha graduates.

To give the lecture, she studied the history of Ewha. She wanted to know more about Ewha and was curious about how it became the world's largest university for women.

It wasn't just a lecture, but a direct communication between her and our students. She looked very happy and the students looked very happy, too.

One of the most heart-warming parts in her lecture was when she talked about her family. She said she could overcome all hardships in her life because of support from her family. Her lecture remains a good memory of mine.

Who's Lee Bae-yong?

Lee Bae-yong, 63, was named on Sept. 28 as the chairwoman of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding, succeeding the inaugural chairman Euh Yoon-dae.

She served as the president of Ewha Womans University, her alma mater, from August 2006 to July this year.

A native of Seoul, Lee worked as a policy advisor in early 2008 to then-President-elect Lee Myung-bak.

She graduated from the school in 1969 and obtained a Ph.D. in Korean history at Sogang University in 1984 before becoming a professor at Ewha in 1985.

Lee is a renowned scholar in the field of Korean history and women's rights. She has also actively participated in various other administrative duties and public service.

She served as the chairwoman of the Korean Council for University Education, a role that placed her at the forefront of policy-making in Korea's higher education as a liaison between the government and the schools.