Korea’s first-ever public diplomacy act took effect Thursday, laying the legal and institutional groundwork for activities aimed to raise awareness among foreign citizens of its policies and interests.

The legislation and its enforcement decree, respectively enacted last February and May, are designed to facilitate the central government’s coordination with municipalities, private entities and other stakeholders, streamlining the planning process and minimizing overlaps.

The landmark law comes as Seoul steps up efforts to promote the country’s image abroad and better safeguard national interests in line with its growing political and economic clout by reaching out more to overseas citizens beyond interstate communications.

“Given the increasingly intricate global diplomatic environment, we should steadily and persistently pursue efforts to boost understanding and support for our key policies such as on North Korea’s nuclear program and unification, focusing on key regions including the U.S., China, Japan and the European Union,” Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said at a symposium in Seoul on Wednesday.

“While pursuing creative public diplomacy by developing our own assets of charm and content, we will work more with the people, the most important agent and multistakeholder partner in modern public diplomacy.”

Under the act, the government plans to set up a public diplomacy committee early next year, led by the foreign minister and with participants at the vice-ministerial level from other agencies, as well as private experts. They will review a basic framework to be crafted every five years and annual action plans, intra-agency coordination and other related issues.

The text also calls for the government to provide necessary financial and administrative support for municipalities exchange activities, and paves the way for the launch of a comprehensive database on public diplomacy.

This year 14.2 billion won ($12.8 million) has been set aside for the activities, more than a twofold jump from 2013 when the country included public diplomacy as a standalone budget item for the first time. But it remains a fraction of that of other countries such as the U.S. and the U.K., each with some 1 trillion won, Japan with around 500 billion won and Russia with nearly 89 billion won.

Marking the law’s effectuation, the symposium brought together dozens of senior policymakers, lawmakers, scholars and journalists at the National Assembly to explore its significance and ways for a better implementation.

Yun Duk-min, chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, offered an upbeat outlook despite Korea’s relatively late foray.

“Now is the time for Korea’s public diplomacy to take a leap forward, given the significance of soft power in determining a middle power’s diplomatic sway, and the potentials the country has built over the past 20-plus years through the Korean Wave, official development assistance and other knowledge and people-to-people exchange programs,” he said at the forum.

“But for that we will have to look into every non-hard power dimension in details and in depth from both theoretical and practical aspects, whether it be culture, business or media, so that they can go together in a consistent manner.”

Lee Sook-jong, president of the private East Asia Institute, said the law could expedite a long-term planning, closer intra-agency coordination and effective implementation of limited resources.

Yet she raised concerns about possible tension between the stakeholders. With other agencies having a greater say such as in budget allocation and event planning than the Foreign Ministry, heated competition may result in fragmentation or eroding the ministry’s coordinating authorities as the main enforcer.

“I believe the overseas diplomatic missions are key,” said Lee, who also teaches at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul.

“After all, it’s about reaching out to the international public as broad and much as possible. For our public diplomacy to take root abroad and thus be sustainable, the missions should inevitably be the pivot.”

By Yoon Min-sik(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)