Koreabrand.net

When the Joongang proclaims "Web site has answers to expat FAQs", people sit up and read closer. Behold - koreabrand.net:



Watch out for the site's only major drawback - a slow and almost unusable 'image viewer'. It shifts and tilts as you move your mouse, which works counterintuitively. Ever play a flight simulator game and realize that pressing up (forward) actually sent you up? Good luck navigating it - for an easier time, use the more helpful categories at the top of the page:

Presented by the Presidential Council on Nation Branding started last year, there's one thing that stands out - Good English Text. This is not a usual thing to see on a Korean government website - and it's quite a welcome change from disasters such as ifriendly.kr (see my write-up for more about that) or some Korean tourist sites.


The concept of a 'nation' brand is nice, but that goal and the goal of providing information seem at odds. At best, there's a conflict between providing honest / useful answers and the answer best suited to keeping the nation brand looking good. For that reason, its usefulness as a question-answering website is limited at best:


Just one example of how Korea on paper is a bit different from Korea in reality. In almost two years I have never been carded before purchasing alcohol, whether at a store or in a restaurant.

To its credit, it seems to serve information from several sources - media, tourist, and official government websites alike. It's an interesting combination of data, although there's little that the experienced Korean expat hasn't learned.

Take a look through it - you never know what you'll find. It's still a new site, so there isn't a lot of depth yet.

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