Тигр пленяет медведя: «мягкая сила» Республики Корея в России

Азия и Африка сегодня. 2021. № 3. С. 24–30.

Em P., Son Z.

The Republic of Korea has in recent decades done a great job transforming its international reputation from being poor and rural to one of a well-developed, hi-tech country, and as well it has achieved great success in the popularization of its traditional and contemporary culture worldwide. It has helped this export-oriented Asian Tiger’s economy to significantly expand the size of the global market for Korean goods and services through the effective employment of soft power.

         The experience of South Korean soft power in Russia, focusing on missionary activities, the popularization of the Korean language and the institution of sister-city agreements is considered in this paper. Nowadays, South Korean business is successfully developing in Russia, growing its trade volume and investing in the economy, but it may not lead to a serious breakthrough in the relations between the two countries.

         The main reason is that the perception of Russia among many South Koreans is largely indifferent or negative. Russia has a great potential to develop its own soft power in South Korea as not only classical literature, ballet, the Bolshoi Theater are popular there, but also the Russian language is also increasingly in demand. Within the studied examples, Russian soft power in action can be seen in the twin-cities relationship between Vladivostok and Busan, which should be considered a successful endeavor, as the Russian city supports cultural activities to raise awareness among Koreans. Indeed, other directions should also be developed in more active way.

         The enhancement of Russian soft power in the Republic Korea is expected not only to foster a variety of potential relationships between the two countries, but also to establish the Korean Tiger as one of the key partners in the Russian turn to the East.

Keywords: soft power, Республика Корея, Korean language, корейский язык, «мягкая сила», the Republic of Korea, sister-cities, города-побратимы