Ohm Kyong-sop, VP for tourism technology at the Korea Tourism Organization, delights readers with a meaningless discuss of the meaning of the KTO’s tourism slogan, “Korea, Sparkling.”
Money quote:
In an effort to ensure that consistency is maintained in all of Korea’s global tourism marketing activities, the slogan, “Korea, Sparking,” has been used as a unifying mechanism and is conducive in conveying the ideas of freshness and revitalization.
The goal of the slogan is to transform the image of Korea from a characterless, unknown and featureless country to a “sparkling” and attractive tourism destination in the minds of international visitors. Furthermore, this new image can serve as a source of inspiration and pride for Korean citizens.
Got it. Personally, though, the line that jumped out at me was this:
Most countries recognize the long-term benefits of remaining competitive in tourism. They realize, however, that good tourism resources and facilities are not enough to draw tourists; a favorable tourism image plays a major part in remaining competitiveness.
Yes, good tourism resources and facilities may not be enough to draw tourists… but they sure do help. And one way you promote tourism resources and facilities is to encourage certain local governments to STOP KNOCKING SHIT DOWN FOR CHARACTERLESS REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST.
Just my humble suggestion.
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
A couple of times in the article they spelled it “Sparking”. So much for “ensuring that consistency is maintained.”
“FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST.”
That says it. My father’s hometown near Andong Gyeongsangbuk-do received National Treasure status, the whole town of about 40 houses that is. They are almost finished RESTORING the town. I said WTF!!!!!! when he told me how they were RESTORING it. They tore down all of the houses, some of them pretty old but well preserved, and they built exact replicas of the houses in a more traditional way where they originally stood. How can they be made in a more traditional way when some of were “actually” built in a traditional way in the first place and still in good condition too! Jesus Christ! What is wrong with these people! Only in the Daehanminguk!
I’ve always thought “Korea Sparkling” was silly, made no sense and bordered on being gibberish. Then again, those words can also be used to describe how Korea runs their tourism industry so I guess it is appropriate after all.
I noticed Mr. Ohm made sure to indicate he had worked with famous, international advertising execs to come up with this brilliant slogan. This fact makes me suspicious. I wonder what kind of input these consultants had, if any. The fact is Korea, Sparkling is lame. Sparkling strikes me as totally meaningless to describe a country unless the environment were truly sparkling, as in, clean and pristine. A more accurate slogan would’ve been “Korea, Buzzing.” Traffic, neon signs, and noise everywhere.
“Dynamic Korea” was the best!
Korea, Baffling!
“Dynamic Korea” was indeed the best. South Korean leadership needs “unified” thinking and taste when it comes to these issues or to simply put one person with dictorial powers in charge of what gets done and prosecute anyone that does not comply.
I prefer the motto “Korea Tinkling” because they tend to do their best to piss on foreigners be it expats or tourists
Jewook, I believe that’s how they’re “restoring” Kwanghwamun as well. It’s been torn down now for a year.
The thing about “Dynamic Korea” is it works well for semi-conductors and the KTX but can you really describe mountains or temples as dynamic?
Do the Korean slogans really stand out as that much more stupid than other places?
Estonia. Positively Transforming.
Croatia. The Mediterranean as it once was
Pure. Natural. Unspoiled. Iceland. The Way Life Should Be.
Wales. Big Country
Come to Bangladesh before the tourists
I bet Marmot is a fan of Australia’s Lara Bingle asking “So where the bloody hell are you?”
Korea could do that. Although a direct copy might not work too well
http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=UxgQ27RDDWk
“The goal of the slogan is to transform the image of Korea from a characterless, unknown and featureless country to a “sparkling” and attractive tourism destination in the minds of international visitors. Furthermore, this new image can serve as a source of inspiration and pride for Korean citizens.”
Vice versa. The primary purpose is to serve as a source of inspiration and pride for Korean citizens. Its the same typical attempt to paint a pretty picture of what Koreans wish Korea could be and attempt to dupe foreigners into buying the lie.
#9 Darth Babaganoosh
I wonder when Koreans will realize that once a cultural treasure is lost, it is lost forever. And building a generic replica just ain’t gonna make up for it.
Korea Cunning
Korea. Cunning-linguists?
http://friskodude.blogspot.com/2005/06/tourism-slogans-for-vietnam.html
#15,
That’s what distinguished our rating (interpretive crypto techs) from others in the U.S. Navy – we thought we were cunning linguists and sometimes we were.
As always, my nomination is: “F***ing Korea.” That about sums up the pretentious self-promotion of a culturally backwards, blatently insecure third-rate nation which attempts to derives a sense of self-worth from its spurious attempts to draw a favorable contrast to other nations from whom its culture is in fact derivative.
If Korea is a pothole detour in the road to human accomplishment and self-realization, then I am one who is personally greatful for having had the opportunity to break free of its generally debilitating effect on the human spirit.
Mizar,
I ask you to spend 2,000 years next to a ginormous country with an inflated opinion of itself, crazy goat blood drinking, horse riding nomads, Japanese pirates who like to go off and plunder when their samurai master gets killed in battle, etc. and see if you come out normal.
Two thousand years? TWO?!!?
Race traitor. You’d probably sign a deal handing over dokdo in exchange for a comfy mid-level provincial bureaucrat position.
What? CactusMcHarris is another PTer? I was a Navy CTI (Chiling) as well, but got stationed here in Korea as my first (and only) permanent duty assignment. Kind of a gyp, but there you go.
That makes CactusMcHarris, Gerry Bevers, me, and sometimes reader Day4Night as known CTIs.
#20,
Ayup – guilty as charged. Korling.
Still, you couldn’t very well stationed in Harbin, and since Taiwan was (maybe still is?) closed as a duty station, Korea wasn’t half bad, was it? And it helped (along with Duffy’s Tavern, I would guess) prepare you for the next part of your life.
Glad to make your acquaintance, sir.
Brendon,
There are actually five, but I’ve been sworn not to reveal his name/handle. He predated me at PT and is a much more cunning linguist than I ever was.
I was sure there must be others in cloaking mode. After all, Top Secret is what we do.
WangKon936:
“Mizar, I ask you to spend 2,000 years next to a ginormous country with an inflated opinion of itself, crazy goat blood drinking, horse riding nomads, Japanese pirates who like to go off and plunder when their samurai master gets killed in battle, etc. and see if you come out normal.”
So, like every nation on the globe, Korea has faced its share of lousy historical circumstances.
But how is it that unlike nations where people generally accept responsibility for their individual actions, it is generally considered acceptable in Korea to place the blame for stupid behaviors on history, foreign nations, persecution, and numerous other circumstances?
At some point people need to take control of their own lives and stop projecting their insecurities onto others. If and when Korean society ever stops attempting to whitewash its problems with transparently empty braggadoccio, and substitute individual responsibility for denial, then we can credit Korea for overcoming its past influences. Until then, however, heaping on polite, insincere praise only perpetrates the problem. But that’s precisely what the foreign visitors do, unaware of the fact that it only enables the problematic behaviors.
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