A recent survey finds that the phrase, 'divided Korean peninsula,' represents the strongest overseas image of Korea, taking close to 30 percent of the polled opinions.

Rapid economic development, the 2002 World Cup soccer games, top-notch Information and Technology industry and the 1988 Seoul Olympics were the next most frequent foreign images of Korea, in descending order of popularity.

The survey was conducted by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency on some 10,000 adults in 70 countries worldwide through interviews, phone calls and online questionnaires.

Among Asians, the popularity of Korean dramas and movies stood out in particular. More than 27 percent of Chinese respondents and 16 percent of Japanese picked Korean pop culture as the strongest image of Korea.

Sixty-four percent of respondents agreed that Korea is indeed a dynamic country, while nearly half said they harbored a negative image of South Korea's military instability and tensions with the North.