The image of a destination exerts a significant influence on the selection of a vacation destination. The more positive the image, the more tourists choose that destination to travel. This case study contributes to learning more about what image people in Kazakhstan have of South Korea as a destination and to improving the competitiveness of South Korea's tourism industry in tourism markets.

The purpose of this study is to determine the cognitive and affective perceptions of visitors and non-visitors to South Korea and their impact on the overall image. It also aims to investigate the impact of overall image on intention to visit and recommend. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, the qualitative research method was used to derive measures of the cognitive image and affective image and based on the data collected through in-depth interviews. The metrics derived from the qualitative research method were adopted in the empirical analysis, which was conducted using questionnaires for quantitative research. As for the data collected form the questionnaires, SPSS 26.0 was used to perform frequency analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, correlation, exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, and multiple regression analysis.

Finally, the results of this research provide important implications for strategic image management and can help in the design and implementation of marketing programs to create and improve the image of tourist destination.