Diplomacy Journal reporter Lee Gilju  | South Korea is increasingly positioning youth and digital culture at the core of its public diplomacy strategy, as demonstrated at the 2025 KOREAZ Content Awards Ceremony held on December 23 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul.

Korea Showcases Youth-Led Digital Public Diplomacy at 2025 KOREAZ Awards

South Korea is increasingly positioning youth and digital culture at the core of its public diplomacy strategy, as demonstrated at the 2025 KOREAZ Content Awards Ceremony held on December 23 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul.

Kim Jina, Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended the event to present awards to winners of the inaugural KOREAZ Content Competition and to mark the conclusion of activities by the 2025 KOREAZ Youth Supporters. The ceremony brought together around 40 young participants from 19 countries, reflecting the Ministry’s emphasis on transnational engagement and youth participation in diplomacy.

KOREAZ, the Ministry’s English-language public diplomacy social media platform, was established to communicate Korea’s foreign policy priorities, cultural narratives and global initiatives to international audiences. Its name short for “All about Korea, from A to Z” signals an ambition to serve as a comprehensive digital gateway to the country.

The event forms part of South Korea’s broader national policy agenda to enhance its role as a “G7+ diplomatic power” through greater international contribution and participation. In practical terms, this has translated into expanding opportunities for citizens particularly young people to engage directly in digital public diplomacy.

This year’s competition featured seven teams, with the Nigerian team winning the Grand Prize. Other awards went to participants from South Korea, Russia, Thailand, Cuba and China, underscoring the global scope of the initiative.

In her remarks, Vice Minister Kim emphasized that the winning entries illustrated how artificial intelligence and cultural storytelling can be combined to create compelling public diplomacy content. The competition was held under the Ministry’s 2025 “Vibe with Us” digital global campaign, which invited participants to use generative AI to share experiences of comfort and encouragement drawn from both Korean culture and their own national cultures.

Kim also pointed to the rapid growth of the KOREAZ platform itself. As of December 23, 2025, the channel had surpassed 1.35 million subscribers approximately 90 percent of whom are overseas users highlighting the effectiveness of youth-driven digital engagement in amplifying Korea’s soft power.

“The expansion of KOREAZ is not merely a numerical achievement,” Kim noted, “but a reflection of how young people around the world are actively shaping Korea’s digital diplomatic presence.”

Looking ahead, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to further scale up youth-participatory digital public diplomacy initiatives and to use the KOREAZ platform to more clearly communicate Korea’s key policy agendas, including the K-Initiative, to global audiences.