The Finnish society from a Korean perspective : The image of Finland amongst South Korean female exchange students

Abstract

The title of this thesis is “The Finnish society from a Korean perspective: The image of Finland amongst South Korean female exchange students”, and the topic is the images that South Korean female exchange students have of Finland and the Finnish society, focusing on the following themes: welfare and welfare state, university education and gender equality. This research will gain new and up-to-date insights into the experiences and perceptions that South Koreans have of welfare, university education and gender equality in Finland, offering a clearer picture of how the Finnish society and Finnish people are perceived by exchange students from South Korea. Additionally, this research will find out whether these images of Finland are somehow similar to that of other nationalities’ images that have been studied earlier, and whether images are related to the self-image that Finland is promoting abroad. The research methods used in this master’s thesis were qualitative research in the form of seven semi-structured face-to-face interviews held online or in person in Seoul, South Korea in spring 2025. The collected research data was then analysed with the data analysis technique thematic analysis, to identify and analyse themes in the data. The results of the thematic analysis and the key findings of this research were that Korean exchange students who have been to Finland perceive Finland and the Finnish society in a positive light. What stood out were good education and welfare in Finland, the peace and quiet of the happiest country in the world and the helpfulness and kindness of Finnish people. Education was perceived as freer and more relaxed in Finland than in South Korea, and South Korea was perceived as gender inequal while Finland as gender equal, and this was due to for example the feeling of unsafety as a woman in South Korea. The general concept of gender equality was perceived as women and men having the same rights such as equal pay and same chances in work life, while gender equality in Finland was explained with the country having for example gender-free jobs. Based on the findings, there were similarities between some of the country image related values that Finland has been promoting abroad throughout the years (inclusivity, equality, wellbeing and education) and the image that the Korean exchange students have of Finland. There were also similarities in answers with how other nationalities perceived Finland in previous similar research and studies.