SSCI by Kadir Jun Ayhan
Journal of Asian and African Studies, 2022
This study explores whether South Koreans’ superordinate identification with North Koreans leads ... more This study explores whether South Koreans’ superordinate identification with North Koreans leads to increased humanization of and empathy for North Koreans as well as reduced negative feelings toward North Koreans. This study also examines whether superordinate identification intensifies support for people-to-people exchanges and unification using an experiment. South Koreans’ increased superordinate identification with North Koreans leads to greater humanization of the latter as well as less negative feelings toward them but does not affect support for unification. This suggests that extended contact is enough to generate superordinate identification with the outgroup but not enough to affect support for government policies.
Through international student mobility programs, such as Global Korea Scholarship (GKS), countrie... more Through international student mobility programs, such as Global Korea Scholarship (GKS), countries aim to influence international students' beliefs about and attitudes toward the host country. In this article, we explore GKS's role in bringing international students to the country and analyze changes in GKS students' and alumni's affective and cognitive evaluation of Korea after coming to the country. We compare results based on students' and alumni's length of stay, gender, and economic development level of their home country. Our findings suggest that after coming to Korea, GKS recipients evaluate Korea more positively in both affective and cognitive dimensions.
Asia Pacific Education Review, 2021
Asia Pacific Education Review, 2021
International student-mobility programs are one of the core programs countries employ as part of ... more International student-mobility programs are one of the core programs countries employ as part of their public diplomacy
portfolio. Policymakers assume that sponsored foreign students would develop positive beliefs about and emotions towards
the host country, which in turn would lead to favorable behavior towards it. However, evaluations of such programs from a
public diplomacy perspective are rare and Western-centric. In this paper, we analyze how Global Korea Scholarship students’
cognitive and affective evaluations of Korea influence their country image and word-of-mouth about Korea; i.e., in how they
voluntarily share their experiences in Korea with others. We use variance-based partial least squares structural equation
modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data obtained from surveying 1107 scholarship holding foreign students. Our findings
suggest that students evaluate Korea most positively in terms of its culture and nature, while their evaluations are not as
positive in terms of the integrity and values of the country. For positive word-of-mouth, affection towards Korea plays the
most significant role, while for negative word-of-mouth, the students’ beliefs about the country’s integrity and values had
the most influence. Our findings help identify the strengths and weaknesses in Korea’s country image which can, in turn,
inform and shape policies accordingly.
International Studies Perspectives, 2020
Instructors of courses in international relations increasingly use films to facilitate students' ... more Instructors of courses in international relations increasingly use films to facilitate students' learning of abstract concepts and to deepen their understanding of theories. This paper introduces how the fictional universes presented in films can be utilized as platforms for students to learn about the application of analytical frameworks. This method aims to enhance students' abilities to transfer learned knowledge to a different setting. Knowledge transfer requires skills that go beyond lower-order thinking. Higher-order thinking aids students' retention of concepts, and enables them to apply what they have learned to new situations. This article illustrates an application of a power taxonomy in the narrative world of the non-historical science fiction films. This exercise can easily be transported to various political science, international relations, and other courses to help students learn various analytical concepts, frameworks, and theories.
Korea Observer, 2018
The role of non-state actors in public diplomacy remains an unsettled question in the literature.... more The role of non-state actors in public diplomacy remains an unsettled question in the literature. However, various transnational activities of non-state actors are often called public diplomacy, without discrimination. The lack of empirical studies on non-state public diplomacy is to blame for this conceptual confusion. Analytical and empirical studies of non-state public diplomacy are needed to consolidate this phenomenon, which is relatively new, while maintaining the conceptual clarity of public diplomacy. This study explores how Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), a Korean NGO, conducts public diplomacy and nation branding of Korea based on its members’ relationships with foreigners. To gain an in-depth understanding of VANK’s activities from the perspectives of public diplomacy and nation branding, this study follows an exploratory single case study method. The findings of this article suggest how VANK and similar non-state actors offer potential for public diplomacy and nation branding that can be utilized also by state agencies.
International Studies Perspectives, 2019
Public diplomacy (PD) lacks an agreed-upon definition and boundaries. The ambiguity surrounding t... more Public diplomacy (PD) lacks an agreed-upon definition and boundaries. The ambiguity surrounding the nature of conceptualization of the term leads to confusion among scholars and practitioners and hinders the consolidation of PD as an academic field. This article surveys 160 articles and books on PD and categorizes diverse perspectives into a taxonomy and explores the coherence of each: State-Centric Perspectives, Neo-Statist Perspectives, Nontraditional Perspectives, Society-Centric Perspectives and Accommodative Perspectives. The article maps the boundaries of public diplomacy with much-needed clear and coherent criteria and positions PD within the broader discipline of International Relations (IR).
Keywords: public diplomacy, non-state actors, taxonomy, diplomacy studies, international relations theories
Korea Observer, 2019
South Korea’s (hereafter Korea) recent middle power diplomacy has attracted worldwide attention. ... more South Korea’s (hereafter Korea) recent middle power diplomacy has attracted worldwide attention. Korean administrations have attempted to steer the country along a middle power path, where it can play a more active global role that is commensurate with the size of its economy. Most accounts take Korea’s self-declared identity as a middle power for granted; that is, they do not evaluate the non-conforming data. On the other hand, this paper traces the process of why the country projects a middle power identity. This paper first addresses alternative explanations of the positional, behavioral and identity approaches to answer this question. Following the failure of these explanations, this paper proposes that Korea’s more assertive projection of its proclaimed middle power identity was a nation branding project that aimed to tackle the so-called Korea discount and to achieve its aspired place in the global prestige and status hierarchy. In turn, Korea envisioned its improved standing in the world helping it achieve its preferred global outcomes, particularly in shaping a favorable international environment surrounding the country.
SCOPUS by Kadir Jun Ayhan
Politics & Policy, 2021
Most governments offer scholarships for international students as part of their public diplomacy ... more Most governments offer scholarships for international students as part of their public diplomacy toolbox. However, empirical assessments of these programs are relatively rare. The limited number of existing works often concern Western countries, while international student mobility programs in non-Western countries remain insufficiently researched. This special issue addresses these two gaps in the literature. All the articles utilize a unique and rich dataset of the perspectives of Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) recipients about South Korea. This dataset consists of four surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019 of GKS students, alumni, and pre-arrival inbound students. There are over 200 variables, most of which are about GKS recipients’ cognitive and affective evaluation of Korea, their Korea-related behaviors, their perceptions of how they are treated by Koreans, their satisfaction with studying in Korea, satisfaction with university and language school, and integration into Korean society. The articles look at various aspects of GKS as a public diplomacy tool, including the determinants of positive recommendations toward Korea as a study or tourism destination, the relationship between behavioral experience, symbolic environment and communication behaviors, determinants of students’ intentions to stay in the host country, gendered dynamics of the scholarship, students’ perspectives on justice based on their experiences in, and beliefs about, the host country, and the determinants of students’ satisfaction with life in Korea.
Politics & Policy, 2021
Extant research has examined the significance of interpersonal relationships in affecting public ... more Extant research has examined the significance of interpersonal relationships in affecting public diplomacy outcomes. Relational public diplomacy is a long-term approach to public diplomacy which posits the importance of people-to-people exchange programs that facilitate two-way interactions between people from two different countries. Using survey data (n = 385) collected from alumni of the Global Korea Scholarship in 2018, this study found that respondents’ perceptions of treatment by South Korean people influenced their comparisons of people from South Korea and their home countries. Moreover, the more highly they evaluated South Koreans compared to people in their home countries, the more likely it was that they would develop an affection and make positive recommendations toward South Korea as a destination for study and tourism. The empirical findings in this article have policy implications for scholarship programs as a public diplomacy tool beyond South Korea.
Politics & Policy, 2021
Over the past few decades, South Korea has increasingly sought to attract international talent. E... more Over the past few decades, South Korea has increasingly sought to attract international talent. Every year, hundreds of students are invited to study in the country on a competitive scholarship provided by the government. Upon graduation, students are equipped with a tertiary degree, as well as knowledge of the Korean language and culture. This study examines the determinants of intention to stay in South Korea to work or study after graduation, using a 2019 survey of Global Korea Scholarship recipients (n = 524). We draw upon literature in student mobility and examine determinants of two-step migration, including satisfaction with the scholarship program, university experiences, social integration, and life in the host country. Results from the statistical analysis show that academic satisfaction, social adjustment, and satisfaction with life in South Korea are positively associated with participants’ intentions to stay in the country to work or study after graduation. The findings highlight the role of academic institutions and host communities in influencing students’ post-study plans and point to the need for policy measures that approach talent retention with simultaneous attention to integration and satisfaction, both within and beyond campus.
The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 2022
The people of the two Koreas cannot communicate directly with one another. Since the early 1990s,... more The people of the two Koreas cannot communicate directly with one another. Since the early 1990s, South and North Korea have allowed a limited number of people-to-people exchanges. In this article, we map the South Korean government’s theories of change regarding inter-Korean exchanges based on policy documents and semi-structured interviews with five high-level Ministry of Unification bureaucrats. We also explore the outcomes of inter-Korean exchanges, building on ten South Korean participants’ insights. Our findings suggest that the primary goals of inter-Korean social and cultural exchanges have been to expand contact between the two Koreas to alleviate the sense of mutual alienation, to increase empathy and, in turn, to reduce tensions and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. Participant interviews reveal that direct interpersonal interaction between South and North Koreans reinforces the idea of a superordinate Korean group identity.
Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 2023
Soft power has become a catchall phrase that suffers from analytical ambiguity. Extant literature... more Soft power has become a catchall phrase that suffers from analytical ambiguity. Extant literature on soft power often conflates it with other kinds of power. In this article, I suggest examining soft power from the power recipient’s perspective, emphasizing the latter’s agency. I introduce three ideal-type explanations for power recipients’ compliance with power wielders’ desires: fear, appetite, and spirit. Fear- or appetite-based compliance is in line with coercion or inducement, respectively, in Joseph Nye’s soft power formulation. As such, soft power arguments require ruling out compliance based on fear and/ or appetite. Soft power is rare in world politics, and it often builds on the material preponderance of the main custodians of the standard of civilization, that is, the central actors in the (regional) international society in question, leading to soft power’s correlation with hard power.
Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 2022
Journal of International Communication, 2021
Country images have been notoriously difficult to capture and measure effectively. In this articl... more Country images have been notoriously difficult to capture and measure effectively. In this article, we propose a methodological approach that combines designed and found data to capture public attitudes. We demonstrate how a mixed-method design with survey data and digital data – namely tweets and Google Trends – make it possible to better capture what target audiences think about a country. We make the case for such a combination by highlighting three aspects of country images. First, to understand what different types of public think about a country, we need to listen to different voices, and complement standardised public opinion survey data with open questions and digital data. Second, social media platforms are invaluable data resources as well as outlets that people on social media turn to for news and information. Last, digital data is unique and powerful, but difficult to analyse and interpret to create value for developing strategic communication policies. Public opinion survey data can help structure digital data and link both outcomes with each other. We support our methodological arguments through an illustrative study of the South Korean country image. We conclude our article by presenting a roadmap for multi-method analysis.
Politics & Policy, 2021
Sponsored international student mobility programs are important public diplomacy tools for govern... more Sponsored international student mobility programs are important public diplomacy tools for governments. These programs’ positive outcomes are usually taken for granted and are rarely assessed. International students’ satisfaction with life in the host country is an important variable for their behavioral outcomes related to the host country. This study used data from two surveys of Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) recipients from 136 countries to examine the determinants of their satisfaction with life in Korea. We found that students’ cognitive and affective evaluations of Korea, frequency of Korean-language social interactions, and perceptions of their treatment by Koreans because of their nationality or religion were significant determinants of GKS students’ satisfaction with life in Korea. In terms of demographic characteristics, men, students from developing countries, and those majoring in natural sciences or engineering fields were more satisfied than their peers. We discuss the implications of these findings for public diplomacy.
Keywords: Asia, Global Korea Scholarship, international student mobility, P&P Special Issue, public diplomacy, satisfaction, South Korea
Politics & Policy, 2021
This study examines South Korea’s international scholarship program based on responses to the Glo... more This study examines South Korea’s international scholarship program based on responses to the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) alumni survey to find how the participants perceive the host country’s dimensions of justice and diversity. We employ the concept of justice in terms of redistribution, recognition, and representation. Analysis of GKS alumni perceptions of Korean society revealed that international mobility programs may provide positive and negative experiences for the participants depending on their positionality in terms of gender, ethnicity, and Korean language proficiency. Some had the exclusive opportunity to access global knowledge, skills, and networks. Others were exposed to unexpected misrepresentation and misframing while living and learning in the new society. We suggest the need for multidimensional policy discussions to consider both positive and negative outcomes of international scholarship programs and their potential to play a transformative role in global higher education.
https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12435
Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 2022
Governments sponsor student-mobility programs with the expectation that students will build a mor... more Governments sponsor student-mobility programs with the expectation that students will build a more favorable and informed opinion of the host country which, in turn, will determine more favorable behavior towards the host country. Nevertheless, assessments of this logic are rare. Based on a survey of the Korean Government Scholarship Program’s alumni (n = 579), we analyze the alumni’s country image of South Korea and how this image determines their relationship maintenance behavior with South Korean people. Our findings show that the KGSP alumni’s image of South Korea partly explains the variance in their personal and professional relationship maintenance with South Koreans. Our findings show that the alumni’s emotions about South Korea influence their personal relationship maintenance behavior more than does each of the cognitive dimensions of the country image, while the functional dimension, which evaluates their beliefs about the country’s competencies and the competitiveness of its economic and political systems, has the highest influence on the alumni’s professional relationship maintenance.
Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia, 2020
There is great confusion over what constitutes public diplomacy (PD), who its actors are, and the... more There is great confusion over what constitutes public diplomacy (PD), who its actors are, and the relevance of non-state actors. In the Korean context, in addition to the general fuzziness of the concept, linguistic peculiarities of the terms gonggong and gongjung both of which refer to public, waegyo, which is interchangeably used for international affairs, foreign policy and diplomacy, and juche which is simultaneously used for actor and agent, add more layers of confusion. While the term PD in Korea is based almost entirely on Western conceptualization, these linguistic peculiarities prevent fruitful conversations among scholars and practitioners on PD. Against this background, this research note explores and addresses conceptual ambiguities that pertains to PD and the policy discourse on the topic, particularly on non-state PD in Korea. The paper draws on Korean government’s PD-related policy documents and Diplomatic White Papers and all relevant academic articles found in Korean-language journals registered in the Korean Citation Index (KCI), which are analysed to gain an understanding of the PD-related policy discourse in Korea.
Asian International Studies Review, 2019
Due to the growing popularity of digital platforms, social media conversations have been proposed... more Due to the growing popularity of digital platforms, social media conversations have been proposed and used as an indicator of public diplomacy outcomes. Despite this, existing research has found that most publics were unwilling to engage with foreign countries on social media. Considering this, this study seeks to identify factors that motivate and/or constrain individuals' engagement in conversations about foreign countries. A survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted with sojourners who temporarily resided in Macao. When choosing how (i.e., channels) and what (i.e., content) to transmit, they managed the tension between perceived risk and expected benefit. Reflecting the theory of planned behavior, where individuals' motivation (i.e., intended outcomes) and perceived behavioral control (i.e., ability to manage the tension between perceived risk and expected benefit to achieve such intended outcomes) predict behavioral intentions, the findings unveil the limitations of monitoring and tracking social media conversations as an indicator of public diplomacy outcomes.
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SSCI by Kadir Jun Ayhan
portfolio. Policymakers assume that sponsored foreign students would develop positive beliefs about and emotions towards
the host country, which in turn would lead to favorable behavior towards it. However, evaluations of such programs from a
public diplomacy perspective are rare and Western-centric. In this paper, we analyze how Global Korea Scholarship students’
cognitive and affective evaluations of Korea influence their country image and word-of-mouth about Korea; i.e., in how they
voluntarily share their experiences in Korea with others. We use variance-based partial least squares structural equation
modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data obtained from surveying 1107 scholarship holding foreign students. Our findings
suggest that students evaluate Korea most positively in terms of its culture and nature, while their evaluations are not as
positive in terms of the integrity and values of the country. For positive word-of-mouth, affection towards Korea plays the
most significant role, while for negative word-of-mouth, the students’ beliefs about the country’s integrity and values had
the most influence. Our findings help identify the strengths and weaknesses in Korea’s country image which can, in turn,
inform and shape policies accordingly.
Keywords: public diplomacy, non-state actors, taxonomy, diplomacy studies, international relations theories
SCOPUS by Kadir Jun Ayhan
Keywords: Asia, Global Korea Scholarship, international student mobility, P&P Special Issue, public diplomacy, satisfaction, South Korea
https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12435
portfolio. Policymakers assume that sponsored foreign students would develop positive beliefs about and emotions towards
the host country, which in turn would lead to favorable behavior towards it. However, evaluations of such programs from a
public diplomacy perspective are rare and Western-centric. In this paper, we analyze how Global Korea Scholarship students’
cognitive and affective evaluations of Korea influence their country image and word-of-mouth about Korea; i.e., in how they
voluntarily share their experiences in Korea with others. We use variance-based partial least squares structural equation
modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data obtained from surveying 1107 scholarship holding foreign students. Our findings
suggest that students evaluate Korea most positively in terms of its culture and nature, while their evaluations are not as
positive in terms of the integrity and values of the country. For positive word-of-mouth, affection towards Korea plays the
most significant role, while for negative word-of-mouth, the students’ beliefs about the country’s integrity and values had
the most influence. Our findings help identify the strengths and weaknesses in Korea’s country image which can, in turn,
inform and shape policies accordingly.
Keywords: public diplomacy, non-state actors, taxonomy, diplomacy studies, international relations theories
Keywords: Asia, Global Korea Scholarship, international student mobility, P&P Special Issue, public diplomacy, satisfaction, South Korea
https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12435
Keywords: public diplomacy, non-state actors, public relations, social networks, collaboration
Keywords: foreign policy analysis, ideas, interests, inter-Korean relations, North Korea, South Korea