Public Diplomacy System (KR0040)

Establishment of a Public Diplomacy System to Foster G2P Communication
Commitment Start and End Date
September 1, 2018 ~ August 31, 2020
Lead Implementing Agency/Actor
Public Diplomacy Team, Regional Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Commitment Description
What is the public problem that the commitment will address?
The government has recently shifted its governing direction from unilateral to inclusive, highlighting the importance of inclusive governing; against this backdrop, citizen participation has become ever more important in foreign affairs. Indeed, nations namely Germany, Japan and Australia have tried to reflect the citizen’s voice in foreign policy making through running a dedicated unit. The Moon administration has also adopted ‘public diplomacy’ as one of the policy tasks to gain the public’s trust and support in the foreign policy making process; as a result, a positive environment needs to be built to enable government-to-public communication and boost citizen participation in the foreign policy making process
What is the commitment?
This commitment is about building and operating an offline diplomacy center that facilitates the public’s opinion sharing and participation in foreign policy. The purpose of the commitment is to obtain the public’s understanding and support regarding foreign policy by taking in their opinions and carry out people- and national interestdriven diplomacy through fostering the citizen participation and harnessing their diplomatic capacity.
How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?
The detailed implementation methods are as follows: 1) to establish and operate the public diplomacy center along with ‘Gwanghwamoon 1st Street, an open communication forum' at the lobby on the first floor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 2) to conduct research on how to build a system analyzing opinion surveys to meticulously determine the public opinion on major diplomatic issues and relevant big data; to build a citizen participation model catered to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and engage the public in policy making; to take in suggestions and opinions from the public at all times through various on- and off-line channels; to select suggestions to be reflected in policy making through multilateral communication and consultation if needed
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
The enhancement of government-to-public communication and citizen participation in the process of foreign policy making is in lined with the values and objectives of the OGP due to the following reasons: 1) increasing accessibility of the public to foreign policy; 2) improving transparency in policy making; 3) strengthening the public’s right to make democratic decisions
Exchange and Peer Learning
Currently, concepts and theories regarding public diplomacy are being established, and a citizen participation model catered to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is being built while relevant cases are studied. Building on these initiatives, the Ministry will carry out peer learning and exchange projects with countries pursuing the values of ‘democratic participation.’
Additional Information
“Public diplomacy” is not only one of the 100 policy tasks of the government but also one of the six policy tasks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Also, it, as a government innovation task of the Ministry, educates internal stake-holders within the Ministry to better understand the importance of citizen participation and government-to-public communication in the process of foreign policy making, thereby functioning as an innovation mechanism within the Ministry.
Milestone Activity with a Verifiable Deliverable
Conducting a survey and a citizen participation project
Carrying out a survey, a policy discussion seminar, occasional calls for policy proposals, a citizen participation project and etc
Running a survey, a policy discussion seminar, occasional calls for policy proposals, a citizen participation project and etc.
Contact Information
Name of Responsible Person from Implementing Agency
Joonbeom Jeon
Title, Division
Deputy Director, Public Diplomacy Team, Regional Public Diplomacy Division
Email and Phone
jbjeon18@mofa.go.kr, +82-2-2100-8530
Other Actors Involved
NA

5-1. Establishment of a Public Diplomacy System to Foster G2P Communication

Commitment Text:

"Establishment of a Public Diplomacy System to foster G2P communication"

This commitment is about building and operating an offline diplomacy center that facilitates the public's opinion sharing and participation in foreign policy. The purpose of the commitment is to obtain the public's understanding and support regarding foreign policy by taking in their opinions and carry out people- and national interest driven diplomacy through fostering the citizen participation and harnessing their diplomatic capacity

The detailed implementation methods are as follows:

1) to establish and operate the public diplomacy center along with 'Gwanghwamoon 1st Street, an open communication forum' at the lobby on the first floor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

2) to conduct research on how to build a system analyzing opinion surveys to meticulously determine the public opinion on major diplomatic issues and relevant big data; to build a citizen participation model catered to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and engage the public in policy making; to take in suggestions and opinions from the public at all times through various on- and off-line channels; to select suggestions to be reflected in policy making through multilateral communication and consultation if needed.

Milestones:

• Conducting a survey and a citizen participation project
• Carrying out a survey, a policy discussion seminar, occasional calls for policy proposals, a citizen participation project, and etc.
• Running a survey, a policy discussion seminar, occasional calls for policy proposals, a citizen participation project and etc.

Start Date: 1 September 2018 End Date: 31 August 2020

Editorial Note: For the full text of the commitment, please see Korea's 4th National Action Plan 2018-2020 at https://bit.ly/2JvQr98.

Context and Objectives

Citizen engagement and participation in governance is a priority of the Moon administration. Innovative efforts include operating an open communication forum (Commitment 5-2), and facilitating public participation in key policy areas such as anticorruption (Commitment 1) and food and drug safety (Commitment 4). This commitment, which will introduce opportunities for public diplomacy, [23] is in line with this agenda and is another innovative feature of the government's 100 Policy Tasks.

The purpose of this commitment is to facilitate citizen engagement and participation in determining South Korea's foreign policy. It will do this by building and operating a public diplomacy center at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to receive, analyze, and incorporate public opinion on diplomatic issues. Although this center will operate offline, the commitment also discusses introducing a broader citizen participation system which would include full-time online access. It is envisioned that that this commitment will enhance government-to-public (G2P) communication and strengthen public support of foreign policy.

This commitment is specific enough to be verified as it includes measurable activities such as the establishment of the public diplomacy center and the use of research tools in building a citizen participation system for collecting and analyzing public opinion. However, the precise nature and scope of the envisioned citizen participation system remains unclear.

This commitment is relevant to the OGP value of civic participation as it introduces new, inclusive opportunities for citizens to inform the direction of foreign policy. It is also relevant to the value of technology and innovation as it entails the use of online channels to receive suggestions from the public. The commitment does not, however, specify what information will be released to the public or how public suggestions will be considered.

This commitment stands to have minor potential impact on facilitating citizen engagement and participation in developing foreign policy. Apart from introducing new platforms for citizens to contribute to decision-making, the commitment aims to ensure that public opinions are meticulously analyzed and reflected in policies. At the time this commitment was designed, the public had no opportunity to engage or participate in the shaping of foreign policy beyond the standard advocacy by civil society organizations. [24]

However, this commitment remains limited in scope as there is inadequate clarity on the nature and extent of information that citizens will receive from the government. Given the variety of factors that influence foreign policy, the isolated impact of public diplomacy will also be difficult to assess.

Next steps

If this commitment is carried forward into future action plans, the IRM recommends that efforts to facilitate citizen participation are supplemented with activities to promote greater transparency and public accountability.

Therefore, the IRM encourages future commitments in this policy area to consider:

• Publishing and disseminating, both online and offline, accessible information on key foreign policy issues to help citizens share informed opinions and suggestions;
• Publishing and disseminating, both online and offline, regularly updated reports summarizing the impact of public diplomacy activities, including clear records of how public suggestions were incorporated in foreign policy decisions; and
• Conducting and publishing quarterly surveys and qualitative studies to determine levels of engagement, and respond to citizen satisfaction, with efforts to promote public diplomacy.

5-1. Establishment of a Participatory Diplomacy System to Foster G2P Communication

Substantial:

For details regarding implementation and early results, see Section 2.3.

Aim of the commitment

The purpose of this commitment was to facilitate citizen engagement and participation in determining the Republic of Korea’s foreign policy. It would do this by building and operating a public diplomacy center at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to receive, analyze, and incorporate public opinion on diplomatic issues. Although this center is offline, the commitment also envisioned a broader citizen participation system which would include fulltime online access to enhance government-to-public (G2P) communication and strengthen public support of foreign policy. [6]

Did it open government?

Marginal

The government established the Center for Participatory Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in May 2018. A mobile application service was launched in June 2019. This app was the result of the 2018 contest for foreign policy recommendations. In 2019, the government held a public diplomacy user created content (UCC) open call, resulting in the decision by MOFA to make changes to the new electronic passport, allowing citizens to add their birthplace for greater convenience.

Implementation of this commitment marginally changes government practice in decision-making regarding foreign affairs. Citizens can now provide input on foreign policy through official channels, which could later be reflected in government practices. However, the only early results seen so far through the development of the new app are minor administrative changes (such as adding birthplace to the passports as a result of citizen’s feedback) and not policy changes.

MOFA continued to collect citizen input on the scope and methods of consular assistance to protect overseas Korean nationals through three surveys, Q&A sessions, and consultations; 200 citizens participated in the process, selected based on their gender, age, and residence. MOFA expects input from this process to be reflected in the Consular Assistance Act for the Protection of Overseas Koreans. Including aspects relevant to citizens in this instrument would advance changes in government practice.

The IRM reached out to civil society organizations to include their perspectives on this commitment but did not receive a response.