The Review of Korean Studies
- P-ISSN1229-0076
- E-ISSN2773-9351
- SCOPUS, ESCI
ISSN : 1229-0076
Nordic Representations of North Korea: A Study of Newspaper Sources
Kristoffer Tingbacke (Lund University)
Abstract
International media regularly portray North Korea as abnormal, run by a leadership depicted in turns as evil, incompetent, all-powerful, and farcical. Such representations provide reason for publics not to question American-led preferences, dominant until 2018, for sanctions and threats over dialogue when responding to weapons development. How does a region beyond the Asia-Pacific, home to potential mediators in inter-Korean relations, view North Korea? The Nordic countries maintain functioning relationships with Pyeongyang and have explored involvement in bringing North Korea and other parties into dialogue. We examine the sources used in Nordic news reports on the country in order to identify whether these relationships push media representations away from the “demonization” paradigm so common elsewhere. We find that while demonizing viewpoints are regularly expressed, linkages do contribute to more empathetic, humanizing portrayals. The Nordic example is demonstrative for thinking about ways to build support for peaceful solutions on the Korean peninsula.
- keywords
- North Korea, media representations, Korea-Europe ties, Nordic diplomacy, international politics
Reference
Andersson, Magnus, and Jinsun Bae. 2015. “Sweden’s Engagement with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” North Korean Review 11 (1): 42–62.
Choi, Shine. 2015. Re-imagining North Korea in International Politics: Problems and Alternatives. London: Routledge.
Cornell, Erik. 2002. North Korea under Communism: Report of an Envoy to Paradise. Translated by Rodney Bradbury. London: Routledge.
Dai, Jia, and Kideuk Hyun. 2010. “Global Risk, Domestic Framing: Coverage of the North Korean Nuclear Test by US, Chinese, and South Korean News Agencies.” Asian Journal of Communication 20 (3): 299-317.
Dalton, Bronwen, Kyungja Jung, Jacqueline Willis, and Markus Bell. 2016. “Framing and Dominant Metaphors in the Coverage of North Korea in the Australian Media.” The Pacific Review 29 (4): 523-47.
Expressen, ed. 2018. “Nordkorea och Sverige i Tyst Säkerhetsmöte” [North Korea and Sweden in Quiet Security Meeting]. Expressen, February 12. Accessed March 7, 2018. https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/nordkorea-och-sverige-i-tyst-sakerhetsmote/.
Gusterson, Hugh. 2008. “Paranoid, Potbellied Stalinist Gets Nuclear Weapons.” Nonproliferation Review 15 (1): 21-42.
Hoare, James E. 2016. “Potboiler Press: British Media and North Korea.” 38 North, October 5. Accessed January 16, 2018. http://www.38north.org/2016/10/jhoare100516/.
Jeong, Arem, and Sung Hae Kim. 2017. “Gong-gong ui jeok Bukhan eun mandeureojinda: juyo jeongbowon (‘cue-givers’) bunseok eul tonghaeseo bon Bukhan nyuseu ui silche wa munjejeom” [The “Public Enemy” as Constructed Reality: Understanding the Quality of News about North Korea]. Munhwa wa jeongchi [Culture and Politics] 4 (4): 111-43.
Kim, Min-kyong, and Sung Hae Kim. 2017. “Siljaehaneun jeok gwa mandeureojin angma: gungnae eollon ui jaehyeon jeongchi wa hanbando wigi jaesaengsan” [Public Enemy in Reality and Devil in the Imagination: Korean News Media’s Intervention into Perpetuating Security Crisis Through Image Politics]. Eollon gwahak yeongu [Media Science Studies] 17 (2): 5-50.
Lamm, Lovisa. 2012. Ambassaden i Paradiset: Sveriges Unika Relation till Nordkorea [Embassy in Paradise: Sweden’s Unique Relations with North Korea]. Stockholm: Norstedt.
Saxer, Carl J. 2017. “The Korea Question and the Nordic Response: From War Participation to Diplomatic Recognition.” Korea Journal 57 (1): 128–52.
Seo, Hyunjin. 2009. “International Media Coverage of North Korea: Study of Journalists and News Reports on the Six-party Nuclear Talks.” Asian Journal of Communication 19 (1): 1-17.
Steuter, Erin, and Deborah Wills. 2009. “Discourses of Dehumanization: Enemy Construction and Canadian Media Complicity in the Framing of the War on Terror.” Global Media Journal—Canadian Edition 2 (2): 7-24.
Wendt, Alexander. 1992. “Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics.” International Organization 46 (2): 391–425.
West, Robin. 2017. “A Strange but Familiar Foe: North Korea’s Media Image and Public Imagination.” Asian Perspective 41: 593–618.
Yonhap News, ed. 2018. “Han-Sweden oegyo janggwan hoedam gyeolgwa” [Results of Korea-Sweden Foreign Ministerial Discussions]. Yonhap News, February 19. Accessed October 18, 2018. http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2018/02/19/0200000000AKR20180219146500014.HTML.
Yoon, Liv, and Brian Wilson. 2016. “‘Nice Korea, Naughty Korea’: Media Framings of North Korea and the Inter-Korean Relationship in the London 2012 Olympic Games.” International Review for the Sociology of Sport 51(5): 505–28.
- Downloaded
- Viewed
- 0KCI Citations
- 0WOS Citations