A panel comprising non-Korean men debated the topic of “national character” on the latest episode of the JTBC talk show “Non-Summit.”

In the episode, which aired Monday, comedian Heo Kyung-hwan appeared as a guest, presenting a topic sent by an anonymous viewer: “I think national development is decided by national character. Is it abnormal?”Zhang Yuan from China said, “National character plays a very important role in national development.”“A country’s development is divided into soft power and hard power. National character is the most powerful factor in the nation‘s soft power,” he added. Tyler Rasch from the U.S. disagreed with his idea, saying, “Soft power should have strength to spread its culture to other nations. However, it is not possible without being accompanied by economic hard power.”Daniel Lindemann from Germany said, “National character should not be a sole indicator for national development. It can be misinterpreted as saying people in poor nations have no good national character.”“Although people are covered with ‘culture skin,’ the essence of human nature is the same,” he added. “Non-Summit” airs every Monday on JTBC at 11 p.m.()