The partnership between ASEAN and Korea has been established for each country's benefit in

every aspect. One of the aspects is the bond between the people of ASEAN and Korea. But what
do ASEAN and Koreans know about each other and how much do they know? Especially in the
minds of young minds. Therefore we wrote this essay to discuss each other party's perspectives
so we can see the good news, and the problematic part and find a solution for better
improvement, and a stronger relationship between the two.

With the association happening, one of the impacts that it gave us was the opportunities that the
youngsters of both regions to create and improve this relationship by self advertisements through
many foundations of a country should have like food, culture, art, the people, technology, the
society, etc,... This gave more access for everyone to understand each other which is a good
thing as everyone can interact and see the beauty and diversity of every country. But from a
conduction survey of mutual perception of ASEAN and Korean youth made by the ACK in
2022, the result seems to indicate gaps in the levels of mutual awareness and acknowledgment
that ASEAN and Korean youths have of one another.

To be able to improve and sustain the relationship between ASEAN and Korea based on the
youth, more specifically on the situation from the interactive viewpoint, we need to take a good
look at what each party thinks of each other through a series of results from the survey made by
AKC and analyze the subtraction of these assumptions.

We first need to know how much interest the young generation has in us on both sides to get the
general data on each region. And after a whole reading on the details, there have been
significantly different opinions and divergence numbers between the two communities. When
AKC asked the teenagers how interested they are in each other. There was no surprise when
most of the local ASEAN or even ASEAN in Korea have high regard for Korea, above 90% of
the ASEAN youngsters, due to us - a part of the world, acknowledging Korea as a developed
country. In the details scenario, the overall feeling-opinion of Korea by each country in ASEAN
pointed out that some parts of South East Asia such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia have a
highly favorable toward the young Koreans. Although the land of Brunei Darussalam, Lao PDR,
and Cambodia have a significant neutral feeling, all nine countries barely have any unfavorable
emotions toward Koreans. Concurrently, Korea has succeeded in being a wide influence of
culture, arts, and food on us at the present and we are having a liaison, exchanging many fields
of each country together. But when it came to Koreans, half of the population (52,8%) only have
engrossment in ASEAN while nearly half left (47,2%) do not. With a noticeable part of the
public having no intention to heed us, we can see the first cause of this phenomenon of a gap in
each part's understanding is a lack of population of young Koreans who have attentiveness.

From that, we need to question what Koreans think about us. ASEAN? What impression do they
keep about us? To see if there is any side of us that was shown incorrectly or have an
improvement. From the reveals of this contemplative survey, we see that the proportion of how
favorable young Koreans are to ASEAN people was low (41,6%) and lower than how much we
local ASEAN youth (73,5%) and ASEAN youth in Korea (76,9%) felt towards Koreans. And the
neutral and unfavorable feeling of young Koreans toward ASEAN youth was higher compared to
us. Even the question from the survey to both sides of what words to their mind when they think
of their other region in this topic. To the young public of ASEAN local and ASEAN in Korea,
we thought of all the subjects that originated from Korean cultures, art, and media. The most
responses were K-Pop, Korean food, and K-Drama and we thought Koreans are very pretty with
their light skin and kind personalities. When it came to what Koreans thought about us, they had
a lot of recognition of our small and dark-skinned physical appearance, having the awareness of
our poor condition in the economy and hot, tropical weather but there are also signs of
appreciation for our kind manners and affordable tourism. With these reflections that young
Koreans thought about us, we can see that we did not express ourselves enough because as a
corporation of 11 nations, we have so much more to offer with the history of each country that
has existed for millenniums and miscellaneous traditions and practices. Along with that, we are
in the process of advancing our societies with the help of technology, the diversity is abundant,
and with the help spread by the young generation full of people who are passionate and creative,
who make and follow new trends. Yet, we seem not to use those advantages to the max, we did
not convey the best of us ASEAN aspects while there could have been many sides of us that
young Koreans can cognizance of. These researches have indicated that they have been related
to making a gap in mutual understanding in both districts.
Now we have insight into the depth of the young Korean and young ASEAN attitudes based on
subjective and objective looks. We can see both sides have their flaws in interacting with each
other. Now we need to look at the content of each region showing to each if there are any
pointers to explain the main circumstance. What each land is showing itself to the open world
and if there is anything we can do.

With the fact that Korea is a developed country with the ability to use its power to stand out with
a high economy, modern technology, and a massive trading industry. There is no wonder that
ASEAN is under the influence of Korean culture and it shows clearly in the food we consume
being in every restaurant, the culture we enjoy learning and willing to pursue through their
language, the music of the K-Pop industry we constantly hear, and the number of Korean
products we purchase every day. Not to mention a significant stretch in finding an education for
ASEAN in Korea. As for young Koreans, they have the understanding and enjoy our food and
travel in ASEAN but also have a look into our ASEAN social issues too. The horizontal bar chart
has illustrated clearly that the ASEAN inclination on everything that Korea can give out is huge
and higher than on the Korean side when they also tried out things that our countries have. And
these personal experiences from Korea, ASEAN has a higher enjoyment which can show through
personal experiences in Korea. Even though the youth in the two civilizations were enjoying
impressive data and we have made good progress in sharing and trading, there are noticeable
levels that can differ us on how we make the experience to the opposite domain. Not even
through personal activities they have, there are ways we can see it through the world wide web,
through the result of the survey, we can see that both young Korean and young ASEAN can be
exchanging, sharing their side of the country and the other side can access it through social
networking services, the internet and TV or radio. On another note, we can see that young
Koreans have most of their approach from the Internet and television or radio but have a low
ingress in social media while young ASEAN has the most connection to it. With the competition
and mass spreading from social media algorithms, our ASEAN-related content is hard to stand
out, compared to other popular types of posts.

After a long observation through the ACK survey and a long analysis, we have come up with the
fundamentals of what has taken part in causing the gap in the consensus of both sides. Now we
have understood them all. We need to find a solution not only to ameliorate the situation but also
to strengthen our perception of each other for a sustained and secure unity contract.
With the current reality of the cognitive gap between people in ASEAN and Korea, which is
becoming more distant and opposing each other, we have been trying to find the best and most
effective solutions to improve and contribute to each other. shortening this distance. If this issue
is not resolved in a positive and timely manner, then everything will not only affect people's
perception in both areas but also bring a bad view, even deviation from reality. This also
seriously affects the investment relationship, cooperation, and mutual development of these two
regions, contributing negatively to the economy, culture, and society.

The first is the solutions for ASEAN countries, the immediate problem that we see and want to
mention is the improvement of the shortcomings of this region. Currently, in the world,
developed or developing countries are focusing on building up the country's economic strengths
and advancing resources, all to maintain the momentum of breaking through as well as ensure
the life of its people. ASEAN is a region where each country has its distinct cultural
characteristics, which can be completely different from each other, a diverse, rich, and colorful
culture, in which There is also a harmonious exchange and acculturation with major cultures
besides this region such as China, India, ...

But besides that, it is clear that, when modern technology is increasingly developed, it means that
traditional cultural roles and values will be increasingly lost and in danger of disappearing.
Therefore, each country in particular and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in general
need to consider this situation at an alarming rate. In our opinion, the first thing that ASEAN
needs to do is reform the education program to integrate the knowledge of their culture and
traditional identity to educate and train the younger generation, and also reform Teaching
methods to help the younger generation master and be interested in their history and
understanding of ASEAN culture. How to convey history and culture should not be rigid and
contain too much knowledge. Instead, use relevant and useful materials for understanding history
and culture such as maps, photos, documentaries, museums, or even experiential tours. historical
and cultural relics, creating opportunities for the young generation to access beautiful and
civilized cultural activities. In addition to cultural education, ASEAN countries also need to
regulate how their young people can raise their awareness, learn to observe and evaluate good
traditional cultural values, represent the characteristics of that nation or country, and bring many
useful spiritual values, which should be preserved and promoted. On the contrary, bad, depraved,
anti-social, and contrary to the norms and fine arts must be carefully considered and eliminated
from society, because in the process of acculturation exchange between the country, a large
number of cultural values both good and bad are absorbed and integrated into countries.
However, it is difficult to control thoroughly, but educating and giving the young generation the
right perspective can help them know how to choose appropriately without losing their national
identity. That is the aspect of education about preserving culture, but in general, there are still
many things to overcome. Most foreigners will rarely choose to study in ASEAN countries, often
foreign students only focus on studying in Singapore and the Philippines, and a small part choose
to study in Vietnam, Thailand, and scattered other countries. The rest of the country is probably
more motivated by cultural factors than by the quality of education. So education in the rest of
the ASEAN countries is still in the middle and rigid state, it is necessary to renew the teaching
model, invest a lot in education and find more dynamic ways of teaching that are effective. more
practical. Next, it is also necessary to nurture talents for the country and the region, minimizing
the serious brain drain that is taking place, in our opinion the best way to minimize this situation
is to bring give these potential factors the best living and working conditions, a good enough
environment for them to both develop themselves and contribute to enriching the country's
economy.

Next, according to the AKC survey, we make the observation that Koreans are often interested in
a small portion of the total number of ASEAN countries, including Singapore, Vietnam,
Thailand, the Philippines, and the rest of the countries, hardly make a good enough impression or
because the way they promote the image of their country is not attractive enough to attract
foreign visitors. And why when it comes to ASEAN people, the first thing that Koreans mention
is skin color and poverty, while this region has many interesting and outstanding features that
deserve to be known more? Therefore, through the preservation and development of the above
culture, each country in ASEAN must assert itself in front of international friends, and bring its
own unique and diverse beauty to share and promote. For international friends to explore and
learn together. In addition, service industries also need to focus on investing and improving care,
shopping, resort, sightseeing, and practical experience services to ensure full facilities for visitors
and tourists. but at the same time, they should not make everything too modern, improve in the
necessary places and pay more attention to maintaining and introducing to visitors traditional
beauty. culture of the country and its people. The people of ASEAN and especially the young
generation should learn to express themselves more in the best ways, to redirect the eyes of
international friends from skin color to better values, show international friends that ASEAN
people have talents, abilities, and valuable qualities that are hard to match anywhere else, prove
and be more honest to reduce and eliminate the unnecessary views. Prejudice on appearance, as
well as baseless wrong judgments, imposes and worsens the image of the ASEAN people.

The second is solutions to improve awareness of Korea, they need to further expand the
education for the younger generation to know more about ASEAN - the area they have been
cooperating with, providing a source of basic knowledge so that students do not have a wrong
view. leading to many consequences and affecting the friendship between our country and the
ASEAN region. But if it is only imposed on education, it will not achieve high efficiency, it is
necessary to have cooperation, a sense of broadening the views and receiving information of
those who receive education, first of all when they want to learn. The problem is, we need a
certain reason or motivation to do it. For Koreans learning about ASEAN as well, what they lack
here is the urge and reasons for them to find out. Therefore, it is necessary to have more
activities and programs related to ASEAN so that the young Korean generation has the
opportunity to receive and absorb the culture of this region more strongly and convincingly.

And for both Korea and ASEAN to improve the aspect of mutual awareness, this requires efforts
and resolute measures from both sides, so we would also like to offer methods general as
follows. Firstly, we need to pay attention and focus on the so-called attitude, this is an emotional
state of a person expressed through behavior, facial expressions, gestures, actions, comments,
statements, and evaluations. and perception, and attitude will include two opposite aspects that
are positive and negative. Having a good foundational attitude will help people to be more open
to dealing with a new problem without causing unwanted incidents. Therefore, forming a
positive attitude toward each individual and towards the whole community is something that
every country needs to do for itself. But to have a positive attitude depends not only on the
individual but also on the surrounding environment, factors such as education, family, and a
civilized society will also contribute to bringing about a positive attitude. Good and balanced
background. When both sides have a solid and positive cognitive foundation, they will certainly
be willing to open their doors and welcome, learn, and feel each other on the principle of always
respecting and being equal to each other.

At a time when digital technology takes the leading position today and with it the Korean wave -
Hallyu makes every topic about Korea always receive a lot of attention and it only in ASEAN
but also in the world, by spreading and influencing worldwide. But in contrast to Korea, the
media about ASEAN is quite lackluster and struggles to find its place in the social network
environment, so what ASEAN needs to do is make full use of the information dissemination
function of social networks. opportunities to bring creative, new but equally unique content to
promote the culture, tradition, heritage, and people of the country and region. For both Korea and
ASEAN, not only must they always promote social media about their countries and regions, but
also try their best to control and strictly manage the content transmitted within and outside the
country. Outside the region, this is necessary to prevent bad, untrue, offensive, and negative
news from affecting viewers' perceptions.

Finally, there is the issue of cultural exchange, by personal experience and through the cultural
exchange activities we have known, these activities have some limitations. Firstly, the organizers
are interested in focusing on profit more than conveying traditional cultural messages to people.
Secondly, the people involved in building such activities, often do not have a high income
worthy of the good work that they do. What we need to do is invest in things related to culture
and tradition, not just aim at the profits that the program brings. Moreover, recent cultural
exchange activities have gradually lost their cultural quality and instead have advertised a lot of
commercial goods and products, so we need to bring back traditional values, ignoring the profit
factor, instead of more creative, more rewarding, and attractive activities.
The struggle and difficulty are long and complex, especially in changing someone's perception,
not alone millions of teenagers from different countries. But under the arrangement of the
ASEAN and Korea, it is very important to improve each impression not only to maintain a -
lasting but also to create a strong connection between the citizens, making friends and enjoying
the beauty and understanding the deep part. And it is necessary to entrust this mission to the
newest generation to make the breaking point as they will be the next line to make a revolution in
the act of peace, trading, and cultural connection for any form of organization in this world.