“I miss Papa (director Park Hang-seo). Can I bring him back?”
Director Park Hang-seo’s popularity in Vietnam is well known in Korea. It is known that there are soccer fans who still miss coach Park as the performance of the Vietnamese national team was not so good after the change of coach.
During his tenure, he was called ‘Park Hang-seo Magic’ and was known as the king of the end of the Korean wave craze in Vietnam. Not only Korean companies, but also Vietnamese local companies aimed for marketing effects that featured him. In response, some in Korea reported that “Korean products are selling well thanks to the Park Hang-seo syndrome.”
However, according to writer Yoo Young-kuk, who oversaw Vietnam affairs at Amorepacific and Nice Group, there is a slight temperature difference between the Vietnamese Hallyu known in Korea and the actual local Hallyu. He said, “If you try to do business just because there is a Korean Wave in Vietnam, it is likely to fail.” He asked him for details. The following is a question and answer.
Q. I heard that the Korean wave in Vietnam is so big that there is a saying that it is thanks to director Park Hang-seo. Really?
A: It is true that director Park Hang-seo was revered as a national hero . The image of companies and products that put him as a promotional model has improved, and there are also some that have a positive effect on sales. However , the image of Koreans and Korea did not suddenly improve
thanks to Director Park . Vietnam is the birthplace of Southeast Asian Hallyu, which started in the 1990s . It is the generation born in the 1990s who began to open up Vietnam in earnest and accept various foreign cultures . They are the original Hallyu generation who spent their childhood enjoying Korean dramas and songs . Therefore, it is correct to say that the image of Korean culture and Koreans has been good in Vietnam for a long time, and it has improved thanks to Director Park . However, that does not mean that products such as Korean clothes or cosmetics sell well because of the so-called ‘Park Hang-seo effect’ . It was something I witnessed at a Vietnamese restaurant before, and Koreans said that they were friends with Director Park and that they knew him a bit and asked if they could cut the price of his meal. None of this will ever work. I have a good image of Korea, so I prefer the product, but that’s not the case.
Vietnamese don’t necessarily buy Korean products . Not only in Vietnam, but the ASEAN market as a whole is similar now. ‘Made in Korea’ is a product with unquestionable quality , but not a must-buy product. Even Vietnam’s upper class society is more than the rich people usually think of in Korea. To them, Korean products are not bad, but they are only products that have nothing to do with them .
Among middle-class and lower consumers, Korean products are definitely popular . Because the price is reasonable and the quality is good. This means that it is cheaper than European, American and Japanese products. They also prefer Japanese products when their income level rises, and the upper class definitely prefers European and American products . That’s why the Korean wave in Vietnam ‘exists and doesn’t exist’.
Q. What is the performance and evaluation of Vietnamese football after Trudeau, a former Japanese national team coach, took over?
A: Originally , Thailand ranked first in soccer in ASEAN , but after recruiting coach Park, Vietnam’s skills improved and entered the ASEAN Class A alongside Thailand. In the past, Vietnam rarely reached the finals in ASEAN international competitions, but it won several times during Park’s tenure. To be honest, the performance of the national team is far below the expectations of the Vietnamese people . In the past, I won tournaments, but there are times when I didn’t even make it to the quarterfinals. That’s why in Vietnam, there are also stories about why our papa was sent out, and to bring papa back . There are many Vietnamese who call Director Park Papa. It is said that even after coach Park resigns, he continues to observe Vietnam national team matches. I’ve seen Vietnamese reporters ask coach Park what he thinks about the national team’s performance. Director Park replied that he didn’t think it was something he wanted to answer and that he needed more time. It is certainly true that the manager has changed and the results of Vietnamese soccer have not been good. However, since it has only been a while since he took office, and the guidance method seems to be different, I think it is still time to observe it a bit more, as Director Park said . In Korea as well as in the past when Coach Hiddink was in charge, there was a time when he was bad at first but showed a good side later.
Q. There is a saying that the department with the highest admission rate at Hanoi National University, called ‘Vietnam’s Seoul National University’, is the Korean language department. Is that true?
A: It is true that Korean language is very popular in Vietnam. because? Because the job is good where the salary is high . I like Korea, but as many Korean companies have entered Vietnam, I can get a good job if I speak Korean well. Currently, there are about 34 Korean language departments in Vietnam , and Vietnam is the country with the most Korean language departments in the world . However , it is not the most popular and high-cut department
in Vietnam . Because, first of all, Vietnamese universities are not universities like Korea, but colleges because they were French colonies. Hanoi National University is not a comprehensive university, but there are separate Hanoi Law School and Humanities and Social Sciences University. And the most popular foreign language in Vietnam is English. Then it goes in order of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese . This order can be regarded as the order of employment. It’s good if you’re good at the language, but it’s a good order to get a job.
Q. You emphasized that the image of Korea is good in Vietnam. Are there any anti-Korean sentiments caused by the Vietnam War?
A: This is a very difficult question. First of all, I personally strongly support Korea’s efforts to support and reveal the regrettable events that occurred in the central region of Vietnam in the past at the level of civil society.
However, the Vietnamese government does not want to officially deal with this part . In the past, when President Kim Dae-jung or Moon Jae-in visited Vietnam, they wanted to formally apologize, but the Vietnamese government said they would not.
The Korean government has been steadily supporting the construction of infrastructure such as hospitals and schools in Vietnam through KOICA and ODA , especially in the central region. But I’m not talking about the Vietnam War. why? It’s not nice to see that the Vietnamese government doesn’t want to comment, and is applying for it just because of that.
Of course, some of the victims in the affected areas may have feelings deep in their bones, but most Vietnamese people don’t really know what happened in the central region during the war . It’s because I’ve never learned or heard of it. So, at least offline, there is no such thing as anti-Korean sentiment or anti-Korean sentiment, so there’s no need to worry.
Q.Korea is a country that makes a living from exports. I heard that Vietnam is more dependent on foreign countries than Korea. How is Vietnam coping with the external environment of escalating US-China confrontation?
A: Anti-Chinese sentiment is deeply rooted in Vietnam. Historically, it has been ruled for 1,000 years, and only 40 years ago, it was invaded. There is also a dispute in the South China Sea , but Vietnam is a representative country suffering from dams that China is building on the upper Mekong River .
However, government officials who have to run the country for realistic reasons do not respond with public opinion and emotions. Vietnam’s trade dependence is over 180% , which is more than twice as high as that of Korea. Currently, Vietnam’s largest exporting country is the United States, and the second is China . China is also the largest importer of Vietnam, so if there is a problem with trade with China, it is a structure that has no choice but to suffer economically.
With the recent change of president, there has been controversy over whether Vietnam is taking a pro-China route. Vietnam is not a pro-US country, but it can never be pro-China either. For example, if pro-China propensity is 0 and pro-American propensity is 10, Vietnam aims for 5, which is in the middle . If the relationship with the United States is needed, it goes to about 5.5, and if China is needed, it comes back to about 4.5, and so on, going back and forth in the middle range.
That is why Vietnam’s diplomacy is also called ‘bamboo diplomacy’ . In fact, in 2016, Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong, who ranked first in the메이저사이트 rankings, compared his country’s diplomacy to bamboo. It means that we will flexibly cope with it without leaning to one side and breaking. That’s why we are strengthening military cooperation with the United States, which has been at war for over 10 years .
For example, last June, the USS Donald Reagan, an American nuclear aircraft carrier, entered Da Nang, Vietnam’s third largest port city. This is the third time that a US aircraft carrier has entered Vietnam, and Danang Port is also a symbolic place where the US landed two battalions of marines during the Vietnam War . Two days before that , the Japanese Self-Defense Forces with two battleships, including the Izumo destroyer capable of carrying 18 helicopters , arrived at
Cam Nan Port near Nha Trang, south of Da Nang . The islands that Vietnam disputes with China in the South China Sea are located near Danang and Cam Nan. Having a US aircraft carrier and a Japanese destroyer docked at this strategic point means that in case of emergency, it will fight a war with China along with the US and Japan . But again, on the same day that the USS Donald Reagan entered the port, Prime Minister Pham Minh Trinh was visiting China . He met with Prime Minister Li Chang and also met with President Xi Jinping to discuss cooperation agreements that were agreed last year. Vietnam’s move is a clear message that its economic relationship with China is very important , but what it will do if it crosses the line on core security . Recently, some Korean companies that have entered Vietnam may face a backlash like in China, so they should change their investment destination.
claims are coming out. I fully agree with the purpose of diversification because Korean companies and capital are currently concentrated exclusively in Vietnam in ASEAN. However, as Vietnam is the birthplace of the Korean Wave in ASEAN and a friendly market that Korean companies have cultivated well over the past 30 years, I would like to ask that you clearly understand its value and never neglect it.
※ In the next episode, we will listen to Professor Ha Sang-eung of Sogang University’s Department of Political Science and Diplomacy about ‘American Democracy in Crisis, the Possibility of Overcoming It and Implications for Korea’ . You can get it easily and quickly by clicking ‘+Subscribe’ on the reporter page at the bottom . You can check out the interview video on the YouTube channel of Maeil Economic Daily News.