Korea PR expert to promote Hangeul

Seo Kyoung-duk, best known for running advertisements about Dokdo in major U.S. newspapers, said he plans to collaborate with Korean installation artist Kang Ik-joong to promote Hangeul, the Korean alphabet.

“I’ve been doing Hangeul projects with Kang for 10 years. When I visit him, we will discuss donating his Hangeul artwork to the Korea Cultural Office in Sydney,” Seo told The Korea Herald in an interview last week, prior to his one-week trip to New York.

“We will also do Hangeul projects for Korean cultural centers planned to be launched in the near future.”

Seo and Kang’s Hangeul projects have led to exhibitions at landmark buildings including the UNESCO head office in Paris, the U.N. Secretary-General’s office in New York, the Korean pavilion at the Shanghai Expo and the library in the Zaytun Division of the Korean army in Iraq.

The 37-year-old has also lobbied for Korean language services at major U.S. museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

“Museum officials were surprised that just an ordinary Korean citizen, not affiliated with the Korean government or the corporate sector, came to them to ask for Korean language services,” he said.

“I think they gave me a chance because they saw true passion in me.”

When he started promoting Korea overseas, many people asked him why.

“I want to be a ‘true linker’ to help culturally different people really understand each other,” he said.

Seo, who is also a visiting professor at Sungshin Women’s University teaching PR and communication, said he learns more by promoting Korean culture.

Seo once published a full page advertisement about Korea’s bibimbap in the New York Times and got interesting feedback from a chef in New York.

“In the picture of bibimbap, we used a raw egg yolk which was the traditional way of presenting the dish. But the chef said almost no American eats raw egg,” he said.

“So we changed the picture of the egg to a cooked one for a screen advertisement in Times Square.”

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)