One of the biggest changes happened to me after spending two years in university is that I began to redefine things in my own ways rather than passively perceiving them. Let’s take ‘democracy’ as an example. Before experiencing the entirely new type of enlightenment in college, I associated democracy with phrases like ‘one person one vote’, ‘will of majority’, and ‘every man is born free and equal’. But thanks to all those courses, professors, and colleagues I met in the previous years, I now know that none of them truly depicts what democracy is; in fact, it is very difficult to define democracy in a concise manner. Under the same context, a TED lecture delivered by Sir Ken Robinson inspired me profoundly. After watching the video, I could establish my own definition of ‘diplomacy’: diplomacy, according to Jin, refers to any act of interpersonal, intercultural, or intergovernmental communication done by anyone.
The speech was fascinating as he pointed out two things that I saw but did not observe throughout my entire life. First was the hierarchy of school subjects on every educational system on earth. According to Robinson, every school on earth prioritizes mathematics in languages while placing art at the lowest level. Furthermore, even though it is evident that courses like drama and dancing facilitate children's creativity, they are abandoned more and more as children grows up. The second interesting point was an announcement by UNESCO saying in the next 30 years, the number of graduated people will surpass that of entire human history. Robinson summarized this with a single phrase: academic inflation is making degrees worth nothing.
Now, let’s think about our traditional view toward diplomacy. In most of the countries diplomats are one of the most educated people, holding big, shiny degrees that show everyone ‘I devoted most of my life in studying mathematics, languages, humanities, and social sciences’. There often are special bar exams just to become a diplomat and they are notorious of their difficulty. They usually have worked in international organizations, political arena, and universities as a professor and this means that it is normally very difficult to see a diplomat who was (or is) a dancer or an actress. But look at the trend these days. People get to know South Korea by listening to the music of BTS and watching Parasite, not by a website of Korean Embassy. Sweden is known for Ikea and ABBA rather than its diplomatic skills and the royal family. No matter who is the ambassador of Spain, people are eager to visit Spain because of flamenco, Gaudí, and Museo del Prado. In other words, diplomacy is no longer a field of professionals and academics; it rather is a field of creativity, unexpectedness, and extraordinariness. Foods, art pieces, musics, movies, and the entire culture composed of layers of creativity is what eventually attracts the rest of the world and realizes true diplomacy.
Taking this trend into account, I expect the future of international relations will and has to change. Governments should focus on the creative potential their people possess and actively incorporate them in the field of diplomacy and international relations. A brilliant example is the recent project of the Korean Tourism Organization, Feel the Rhythm of Korea. Unlike the traditional, stuck-in-a-rut video clip released by government institutions, Korean Tourism Organization focused on the current trend of public diplomacy. By collaborating with an innovative pop band Leenalchi--who blends Korean traditional culture with a touch of modernity--Feel the Rhythm of Korea was praised by numerous people as it paved the way of future diplomacy. This is the future of international relations. In the era full of academic inflation and blatant disregard of the beauty of arts, change is inevitable and necessary.
P. S. In case you would like to see the videos of Feel the Rhythm of Korea, find the hyperlinks below.
Seoul : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P1CnWI62Ik&feature=youtu.be
Jeonju : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ_lCmB2hfk
Busan : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLD8oWRmlAE