A Comparative Analysis Of The Public Diplomacy Of Japan And South Korea Towards The United States On The "Comfort Women" Issue

Since the beginning of the 21st century, countries have displayed a great interest in public diplomacy (PD). In addition to reinforce the foundation of cooperation between countries, PD was also seen as an important tool of competition among countries. By competing for power of attraction?the influence and power over opinion in foreign lands, PD was considered as a means of promoting the interests of nations."Comfort women" has been seen as an important factor that affects the relationship between Japan and Korea. Their battles for power over opinion on this issue never ceased. As a center of the world press, the attitude of the United States on "comfort women" is rather important for both Japan and Korea, Thus it has become the target of launching PD campaigns for both of them.By using the method of comparative analysis, this paper will analyze Japan and South Korea's public diplomacy that deal with the" Comfort women" issue in America. By comparing the goals, the actors, the target audience, and the influences, Lessons can be learned from their Public diplomacy.For the issue of "comfort women", the goals for Japan and Korea are Competitive. Government plays a leading role in japans'Public diplomacy activities in America, while the Korean-American communities are the main actors for Korea. The paper concludes with some suggestions for doing public diplomacy work effectively, for example: attentions should be paid on the design of goals. Cooperation with the non-state actors is essential for effective public diplomacy, target specific audience is necessary.