Yoon Suk Yeol flaunts Korea's soft power during visit to U.S.

While national security and global political issues including Taiwan and Ukraine took center stage during the Korean president's weeklong visit to the United States, soft power diplomacy also grabbed global attention.

President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address at the John F. Kenny School of Government at Harvard University on Friday. [YONHAP]

While President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden's dialogue on national security and global political issues, including Taiwan and Ukraine, took center stage during the Korean president's weeklong state visit to the United States, Yoon’s soft power diplomacy also grabbed global attention.

Yoon became the first Korean president to deliver an address at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Friday, where he talked about the Korea-U.S. alliance and both countries' efforts against North Korea's nuclear deterrence.

Other subjects that Yoon addressed were human rights, illiberal democracy and threats to democracy, such as propaganda and misinformation.

Yoon quoted John F. Kenny during his speech at Harvard, saying, “Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free," stressing the importance of not overlooking threats to freedom and democracy.

“Those that threaten freedom and democracy often disguise themselves as friendly powers or human rights advocates,” Yoon said. “We must stay vigilant and not be misled by these forces.

“This requires us to have an unwavering philosophy and principle toward freedom.”

He said freedom and solidarity are “indivisible” and that “intricate links make each other indispensable.”

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a meeting with academics on digital and bio sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday. [YONHAP]

Yoon also promoted Korea’s soft power when he met with the heads of six leading American production companies on Thursday, his last official business day in Washington before leaving for Boston.

He touted Korean K-pop artists BTS and Blackpink, the drama "Squid Game" (2021) and films "Parasite" (2019) and "Minari" (2021), saying that he has promised American production companies that the Korean government will lift regulations to make Korea a more readily attractive location for filming.

The heads of Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Paramount and Netflix attended the meeting, jointly organized by the Motion Picture Association and the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

These companies account for 77 percent of the world’s film and video market and 45 percent of the online streaming market.

Korean cultural figures who attended the meeting included CJ Group Vice Chairman Miky Lee, Studio LuluLala (SLL) CEO Jung Kyung-moon and Watcha CEO Park Tae-hoon.

CJ’s Lee is perhaps best known for producing the film "Parasite," which won Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars in 2020. SLL is a drama production, distribution and talent management company and a subsidiary of JTBC. Watcha is a Korean streaming service provider.

According to the presidential office and the Culture Ministry, the six companies plan to invest in at least 45 pieces of Korean cultural content.

On the first day of Yoon’s arrival in Washington, Netflix promised to invest $2.5 billion in Korea over the next four years.

At the event, Yoon said the alliance between the two countries, as depicted in the hit Korean film “Ode to My Father” (2014), has helped Korea to become not only a global economic powerhouse but also a major player in the global content industry, from music to films.

“I believe, as with economy and trade, there are no borders for culture industries,” Yoon said. “Especially with culture, countries should not build borders.”

One highlight of Yoon’s visit last week was his singing of Don McLean’s “American Pie” at the state dinner on Wednesday.

The Korean president became a global sensation after the video was tweeted by journalist Brian Krassenstein, under which Elon Musk responded with the tweet: “Hear, hear!”

Yet, at home, Yoon's popularity still struggles.

According to the latest poll by Gallup Korea released on Friday, only 30 percent of the 1,001 people surveyed between April 25 and Thursday were in support of Yoon.

This is a 1 percentage-point drop from the previous week.

Those that disapprove of the president rose 3 percentage points to 63.

Yoon was also criticized by DP lawmakers for his singing at the state dinner, with Rep. Chun Jae-soo joking that the president must have had a 10-hour practice, while Park Jie-won, former National Intelligence Service director during the Moon Jae-in administration, said that the Korean president’s office made a mistake as it was supposed to be a duet with Biden.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]