National image of North Korea in South Korean news media

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1710
• Published date: 01 November 2018
• Date: 01 November 2018
• Author: Jinbong Choi

ACADEMIC PAPER

National image of North Korea in South Korean news media

Jinbong Choi

Department of Media and Communication,

Sungkonghoe University, Seoul, South Korea

Correspondence

Jinbong Choi, Professor, Sungkonghoe

University, Department of Media and

Communication, 320 Yeondong‐Ro, Kuro‐gu,

Seoul, 152‐716, South Korea.

Email: choi0126@gmail.com

This study examines how 2 major South Korean newspapers (Chosun Ilbo and

Hankyoreh Sinmon) represent—specifically through framing—North Korea's national

image during the 2‐year period (from 2001 to 2002). To conduct this research, framing

analysis was used for analyzing media texts as a research method. According to find-

ings, although reporting North Korean issues, the South Korean newspapers consid-

ered the relationship with North Korea and the peace and reunification of the

Korean Peninsula. That is, although covering North Korean issues, South Korean news

media concern and reflect on their relations with the issues and political and cultural

structures of their society.

1|INTRODUCTION

The national image of a country is identified by symbols and images. It

is “created by many different kinds of short pieces of knowledge,

which are gained directly and indirectly over long periods of time”

(Choi, 2010, p. 392). That is, a national image is not fixed but renewed

by different factors through the course of time. Thus, in this study,

national image is defined as created, gained, and changed directly

and indirectly over time “through different factors created by people's

reaction to different elements associated with it, such as media repre-

sentation and international relationships”(Choi, 2010, p. 392).

People usually react to the image of an object more often than

information and knowledge of the object. Marton and Boddewyn

(1978, p. 25) argue that people's actions are not only based on the

formed image about the world in their minds but also are determined

by the given image. As people usually understand an object through

images, they understand the image of a country through images as

well. Nowadays, the images of objects or country are created more

by indirect experiences (mainly by the media) than by direct experi-

ences with the real environment. In other words, people generally

shape images based on images given by the media.

According to McCombs (1994, p. 3), the most significant media

effect is to “structure and organize our world for us.”He continues

to argue that “considerable evidence has accumulated that journalists

play a key role in shaping our pictures of the world as they go about

their daily task of selecting and reporting the news”(McCombs,

1994, p. 3). Other communication scholars also argue that the media

formed or framed the image of objects or the reality in the socialworld.

For instance, Gitlin (1980) emphasizes that media frames organize the

world for both journalists and individuals (media consumers). Tuchman

(1978) also points out news frames impose “order and coherence on

the social world.”Consequently, for many individuals, the information

provided by the mass media is the only way to understand and see real

world issues.

North Korea, as an example, is one of the closed countries in the

world. Few people travel or visit North Korea. Thus, people usually rely

on official governmental announcements and news coverage for creat-

ing a national image of North Korea and understanding North Korea. In

this situation, depending on the images of North Korea framed by gov-

ernment and news media, people understand the national image of

North Korea (Choi, 2010). One of the appropriate examples can be

found in President Bush's rhetoric in the 2002 State of the Union

address. Through this speech, Bush designated North Korea as an “axis

of evil”country to justify his war on terror. Due to his indication, many

American people understand North Korea as a dangerous, radical, and

violent country. “In framing and creating the national image of a coun-

try, media and government generally use special strategies (e.g., catch

phrases, pictures, special words, metaphors, etc.)”(Choi, 2010, p.

392). Nowadays, the concept of media framing is becoming more and

more dominant in the body of literature addressing the news media's

techniques, their roles, and their effects in the society (Smith, 1997).

Thus, to investigate and understand media and speech texts, analyzing

these framing strategies is necessary.

Therefore, this study aims to examine new media coverage of

North Korea between 2001 and 2003, looking at the frames used by

two selected South Korean newspapers, Chosun Ilbo and Hankyoreh

Sinmon. On the basis of the purpose of this study, a series of research

questions have been formulated. The following research questions are

answered through framing analysis of the South Korean newspaper's

coverage about the national image of North Korea. The above brief

Received: 14 January 2018 Accepted: 26 February 2018

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1710

J Public Affairs. 2018;18:e1710.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1710

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of7