19권(2009) | [19권 4호]이영희·니콜 조디 쉽톤, The Image Foreign Teachers Have of Seoul: How is…

Abstract : This paper researched the perception ten foreigners had of Seoul using mental maps, and how their
perceptions corresponded to the image the Seoul City government is promoting through their “Hi Seoul” branding
campaign. The Seoul City Government has been promoting three sub-slogans in the “Hi Seoul”campaign since
2003: first, “Lovely Seoul,” which promotes “the feeling of Seoul” as “a hometown through equal development
between regions and harmony of citizens” second, “Friendly Seoul” which is to promote “an open, welcoming
city” and third, “High Seoul” which is to “develop Seoul into a top city of the world in consideration of the
transportation and administration systems.” Results from this research indicate that: 1) foreigners recognize more
physical and artificial elements north of the Han river than south of the Han river 2) the adjective of “friendly”
does not correspond to foreigners’ perception of Seoul and 3) the Han river and Nam mountain are the most
recognized elements in Seoul. Implications from the results are discussed in consideration of the effectiveness of
the “Hi Seoul” campaign on foreign residents.
Key words: foreign English teachers, mental maps, slogan, place branding