1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade established websites for its 167 missions abroad in a total of 33 languages as part of its public diplomacy efforts. As a result, the number of foreign-language websites – excluding English, of which there are 83 – jumped almost fourfold from 26 in 2009 to 107 in 2012.

o The Foreign Ministry also developed a wide range of contents to promote the ROK worldwide in 8 major languages along with pictures, in cooperation with relevant organizations, including the Korean Culture and Information Service and the Korea Tourism Organization.

2. The Foreign Ministry has been pursuing “Public Diplomacy,” which aims to win the hearts and minds of people around the world, as one of the most important pillars of the ROK’s diplomacy to keep pace with the rapidly-changing diplomatic environment. As part of this, the Ministry has continuously launched websites of overseas missions in local languages, which local nationals can understand.

3. The Foreign Ministry will continue to work to ensure that local-language websites of overseas missions can serve as an online space for people from all over the world to get closer to and better understand the ROK.


                                 Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

* unofficial translation