“Peaceful island” Jeju: political branding of the region and formation of its positive image
The article focuses on the branding of regions, namely the case of JejuIsland in the Republic of Korea. As my research states, in the 2000s, with the warming relations between the states on the Korean peninsula, the South Korean government began to promote JejuIsland with a brand “Island of peace”. It was positively taken both in the DPRK and the RK, and is still highly demanded. The article is based on the content analysis of the South Korean media, the open documents of the Jeju Peace Institute, the rhetoric of current South Korean president Moon Jae-in and his predecessors. The goal of the study is to examine whether JejuIsland is really associated with the idea of the “island of peace” among Korean citizens and whether there are any other well-established inter-Korean symbols of long-term cooperation. The study proves that even though the idea of the “island of peace” is often supported by the government of the ROK, it is still not wide-spread term among common people. Nevertheless, it can indeed be the “island of peace” through an appeal to the well-established centuries-old dualism of the two highest mountains on the Korean peninsula - Baektusan located in the DPRK, and Hallasan, located in the ROK, on Jeju. This dualism is often used as a synonym to the whole Korean peninsula and is positively understood by people both in the ROK and the DPRK. So, it is possible to conclude that in the near future the dialogue between the ROK and the DPRK will be symbolized by these images.