Examining the role of the human factor as a non-state actor in South Korea's public diplomatic strategies in Uzbekistan

  • Natalya Steane

    Student thesis: Master's ThesisMaster of Arts by Research

    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 also 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 the role of the human factor as a non-state actor in South Korea’s public diplomacy strategies in Uzbekistan, thereby providing additional insight into implementation and development of public diplomacy mechanisms. Notably, Uzbekistan has the largest Korean diaspora in the CIS region and this diaspora is the fifth largest in the world. The research attempts to explore and analyse the relationship among state and non-state actors to examine how these networks collaborate to promote South Korea’s national image. The analytical focus on how the actors promote South Korea’s national brand in Uzbekistan also contributes to the knowledge of new public diplomacy. The findings show that South Korea has actively engaged with Uzbek publics, and especially the local Korean diaspora, through South Korea’s cultural, educational, medical and economic public diplomacy tools in Uzbekistan. The research identifies that South Korea puts greater emphasis on the human factor as non-state actor in its public diplomacy strategies in Uzbekistan to maintain long lasting relationships by creating an inter-connected collaborative circle with the participation of Uzbek human factor in every public diplomacy initiative in Uzbekistan.
    Date of AwardJan 2021
    Original languageEnglish
    Awarding Institution
    • Coventry University
    SponsorsAcademy of Korean Studies
    SupervisorEunju Hwang (Supervisor) & Salvatore Coluccello (Supervisor)

    Cite this

    '