Page 63 - AEI Insights 2020 - Vol. 6, Issue 1

Rosland, 2020

increasing tourism sector of ASEAN-ROK is through promoting by travel agencies. Travel
agencies plays an important role in advertising various tour packages to cater different needs
of the tourists. As experienced by the researcher, if we are visiting a country for the first time,
it is wise to seek advice from the travel agency as they can provide relevant information and
advice for the tourist. It is crucial for both ASEAN-ROK government to monitor the travel
agencies by providing support and regular updates as these agencies are the source of
information for travellers. In addition to that, AKC also had launched a ‘ASEAN Tourism
Guide Mobile Application’ for tourists to have easy access to information on ASEAN. Through
this ‘ASEAN Travel’ application, users of smart-phone can have updated info of all Southeast
Asia countries which includes tourist destinations, restaurants, transportation, and
accommodation (AKC, 2015). This app is available for both android phone and iPhone and
can be downloaded at Apple App Store or Google Play. The best part with this apps is that the
information is written in both Korean and English language. Tourism is also being promoted
through social media. For example, Facebook users in ROK for year 2017 have recorded
approximately 14.5 million while Southeast Asia countries have more than 306 million
Facebook users (Statisca, 2017).
Second area in strengthening the people-to-people exchanges can be done in education sector.
Numerous universities have opened the Southeast Asian research centres and departments such
as Institute for South East Asian Studies (ISEAS), National University of Singapore; the
Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC), KISEAS, KASEAS, and many more indicating that
the region of Southeast Asia is on the academic radar as an area of specialisation. ASEAN-
ROK relations are also determined by the increasing and supporting ties of the ASEAN
University Network (AUN) and top-notch Korean academic institutions. AUN is an Asian
university association that was founded in November 1995 by ASEAN member countries.
AUN allows exchanges between university students from both sides and creates opportunities
for those in higher educational institutions (in both technical and vocational education) to learn
more about each other at in depth-level. The various cultural exchanges among ASEAN-ROK
youth also allow greater understanding and awareness of each other. As of 2015, there are
around 7300 students from ASEAN countries that chose to study in Korean
universities((AKC), 2016). ROK was not only responsible for exchange students, but also
initiated scholarships and provided research grants. Amongst the initiated programmes are
ASEAN-South Korea Academic Exchange Programme, ASEAN Millennium Leaders College
Students Exchange Programme, and ASEAN-South Korea Scholarship for South Korea
Studies Programme which have been on-going since 2010.
The third area is in human development. This phenomenon is a growing cultural exchange
widely known as hallyu. Hallyu or Korean wave is a term that refers to the popularity of Korean
entertainment and culture (ranges from television dramas, movies, popular music (K-pop),
dance (B-boys), video game, food, fashion, tourism, and language (Hangul)) across Asia and
other parts of the world which include Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the United States.
Hallyu started in the mid-1990s, starting with drama and film industry and then evolving to
music entertainment such as K-pop. This industry witnessed teenagers idolizing Korean artists
and put up pressure for ASEAN cinema and drama to revolutionize their plots and scripts. To
spike viewership and revenue, television channels screen Korean films and dramas dubbed into
local language. Just like Hollywood, Bollywood and Japanese animated shows, Korean dramas
are a clear example of globalization that has stretched social, political, economic, and cultural
activities across the national borders and across the globe. The government of ROK took the
advantage of the Korean wave as a policy tool to improve its cultural and public diplomacy
where it is used to promote Korean national interest and enhancing ROK images in the world.
Through the researcher’s understanding, Korean wave is also seen as emergence of ‘soft

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