1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication
  4. Online First Articles
  5. Online First Article
image of Historical and Partisan shifts in Korean press representation of feminism (1990–2022)
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This study examines how feminist issues have been represented in South Korean press discourse from 1990 to 2022, using a corpus of 49,028 articles referencing feminism (), gender equality (), and gender discrimination (), drawn from 54 national, regional, and online news outlets. Employing keyness analysis and structural topic modeling, we trace longitudinal trends and partisan variations in the framing of feminism. The findings reveal a marked lexical shift from gender-specific terms (e.g., housewife, female workforce) to more gender-neutral terms (e.g., youth, people), alongside a thematic transition from structural inequality to gender conflict, controversy, and electoral politics. Liberal outlets tend to emphasize structural sexism and misogyny, whereas conservative outlets frame feminism in relation to misandry and electoral and parliamentary politics. These results underscore the media’s role not only in amplifying feminist visibility but also in reframing feminist discourse through a polarized and depoliticized lens. This study contributes to feminist and Korean media scholarship by documenting the depoliticization of feminist discourse in the Korean press through a large-scale, longitudinal, and ideologically comparative analysis, while highlighting the need for journalistic practices that can foster informed and structurally grounded public engagement with gender issues.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/japc.00117.oh
2025-10-21
2025-11-13

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/japc.00117.oh
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Bartholomé, G., Lecheler, S., & de Vreese, C.
    (2015) Manufacturing conflict? How journalists intervene in the conflict frame building process. The International Journal of Press/Politics, (), –. 10.1177/1940161215595514
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161215595514 [Google Scholar]
  2. Bischof, J., & Airoldi, E. M.
    (2012) Summarizing topical content with word frequency and exclusivity. InJ. Langford and J. Pineau (Eds.), Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML-12), (pp.–). Omnipress.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Bohrer, A. J.
    (2019) Marxism and intersectionality: Race, gender, class and sexuality under contemporary capitalism. Transcript.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bondi, M., & Scott, M.
    (Eds.) (2010) Keyness in texts. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/scl.41
     https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.41 [Google Scholar]
  5. Boone, J.
    (2019, February12). ‘Captain Marvel’: Everything We Learned on the Set of Brie Larson’s Intergalactic Origin Story. Entertainment Tonight. https://www.etonline.com/captain-marvel-everything-we-learned-on-the-set-of-brie-larsons-intergalactic-origin-story-118901
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Capelos, T., Nield, E., & Salmela, M.
    (2023) Narratives of success and failure in ressentiment: Assuming victimhood and transmuting frustration among young Korean men. Social Sciences, (), Article 259. 10.3390/socsci12050259
     https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12050259 [Google Scholar]
  7. CEDAW (=United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women)
    CEDAW (=United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women) (1998) Concluding Comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: Republic of Korea (Excerpted from: Suppl. No. 38 (A/53/38), U.N. Doc. CEDAW/C/KOR/3 and CEDAW/C/KOR/4, see CEDAW/C/SR. 400 and 401 (7 July 1998)). www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw25years/content/english/CONCLUDING_COMMENTS/Republic_of_Korea/Republic_of_Korea-CO-3_4.pdf
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Cha, H.-J., Han, Y., & Kweon, S. H.
    (2021) Yeonghwa <82-nyeonsaeng Kim Ji-young> ui han-jung ribyu-e natanan p’eminijeum peureim yeongu [A study on the feminism frame in the Korean-Chinese review of Kim Ji-young born in 1982]. Film Studies, , –. 10.17947/FS.2021.9.89.5
     https://doi.org/10.17947/FS.2021.9.89.5 [Google Scholar]
  9. Ching, M., & Louie, M. C. Y.
    (1995) Minjung feminism: Korean women’s movement for gender and class liberation. Women’s Studies lntemational Forum, (), –. 10.1016/0277‑5395(95)80033‑L
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-5395(95)80033-L [Google Scholar]
  10. Culpeper, J.
    (2009) Keyness: Words, parts-of-speech and semantic categories in the character-talk of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, (), –. 10.1075/ijcl.14.1.03cul
     https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.14.1.03cul [Google Scholar]
  11. Danner, L., & Walsh, S.
    (1999) “Radical”; feminists and “Bickering”; women: Backlash in U.S. media coverage of the United Nations fourth world conference on women. Critical Studies in Media Communication, (), –. 10.1080/15295039909367072
     https://doi.org/10.1080/15295039909367072 [Google Scholar]
  12. De Benedictis, S., Orgad, S., & Rottenberg, C.
    (2019) #MeToo, popular feminism and the news: A content analysis of UK newspaper coverage. European Journal of Cultural Studies, (), –. 10.1177/1367549419856831
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549419856831 [Google Scholar]
  13. Entman, R. M.
    (1997) Manufacturing discord: Media in the affirmative action debate. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, (), –. 10.1177/1081180X97002004004
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1081180X97002004004 [Google Scholar]
  14. Fedorenko, O.
    (2015) Politics of sex appeal in advertising: Female creatives and post-feminist sensibility in South Korea. Feminist Media Studies, (), –. 10.1080/14680777.2014.930060
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2014.930060 [Google Scholar]
  15. Gavin, N. T.
    (2018) Media definitely do matter: Brexit, immigration, climate change and beyond. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, (), –. 10.1177/1369148118799260
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148118799260 [Google Scholar]
  16. Ghosh, S., Su, M.-H., Abhishek, A., Suk, J., Tong, C., Kamath, K., Hills, O., Correa, T., Garlough, C., Borah, P., & Shah, D.
    (2022) Covering #MeToo across the news spectrum: Political accusation and public events as drivers of press attention. International Journal of Press/Politics, (), –. 10.1177/1940161220968081
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220968081 [Google Scholar]
  17. Gim, J., Kim, K., & Choi, G.
    (2023) 20 dae daeseongwa ’jendeo popyullijeum’: jeongchijeok yangsikui ban-peminijeumjeok guseongeul jungsimeuro [“Gender Populism” and the 20th presidential election in South Korea: The anti-feminist construction of a political style]. Journal of Korean Women’s Studies, (), –. 10.30719/JKWS.2023.06.39.2.203
     https://doi.org/10.30719/JKWS.2023.06.39.2.203 [Google Scholar]
  18. Guha, P.
    (2015) Hash tagging but not trending: The success and failure of the news media to engage with online feminist activism in India. Feminist Media Studies, (), –. 10.1080/14680777.2015.987424
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2015.987424 [Google Scholar]
  19. Hallin, D. C.
    (2008) Neoliberalism, social movements and change in media systems in the late twentieth century. InHesmondhalgh, D., & Toynbee, J. (Eds.), The media and social theory (pp.–). Routledge. 10.4324/9780203930472
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203930472 [Google Scholar]
  20. Han, B., & Shin, H.
    (2017) Inter-country relationship and mass media: An ego network analysis of how the Korean media covered the announcement of China’s Air Defense Identification Zone in November 2013. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, (), –. 10.1075/japc.27.2.02han
     https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.27.2.02han [Google Scholar]
  21. Han, J.
    (2018) Partisan media and polarized opinion in South Korea: A review. InW. Shin, K. Kim, & C. Kim (Eds.), Digital Korea: Digital technology and the change of social life (pp.–). Hanul Academy. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326016754_Partisan_Media_and_Polarized_Opinion_in_South_Korea_A_Review
     [Google Scholar]
  22. He, L., Han, D., Zhou, X., & Qu, Z.
    (2020) The Voice of Drug Consumers: Online Textual Review Analysis Using Structural Topic Model. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, (), Article 3648, –. 10.3390/ijerph17103648
     https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103648 [Google Scholar]
  23. Hong, J.
    (2022) Jendeo galdeungeun eotteoke uri sahoeui juyo damroni doeeonneunga?: bosu eollonui jendeo galdeung gisa bunseogeul jungsimeuro [How gender-conflict becomes the main discourse in our society?: Focused on gender-conflict articles from conservative media]. Media, Gender & Culture, (), –. 10.38196/mgc.2022.06.37.2.99
     https://doi.org/10.38196/mgc.2022.06.37.2.99 [Google Scholar]
  24. Jacobs, T., & Tschötschel, R.
    (2019) Topic models meet discourse analysis: a quantitative tool for a qualitative approach. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, (), –. 10.1080/13645579.2019.1576317
     https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2019.1576317 [Google Scholar]
  25. Jang, W. Y., & Frederick, E.
    (2017) International media framing: A case study of Korean-Japanese territorial disputes. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, (), –. 10.1075/japc.27.2.04jan
     https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.27.2.04jan [Google Scholar]
  26. Jaworska, S., & Krishnamurthy, R.
    (2012) On the F word: A corpus-based analysis of the media representation of feminism in British and German press discourse, 1990–2009. Discourse and Society, (), –. 10.1177/0957926512441113
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926512441113 [Google Scholar]
  27. Jeon, M., Kim, H. O., & Woo, C. W.
    (2022) #MeToo movement in political media era: a comparison of U.S. media and Korean media. Communication Quarterly, (), –. 10.1080/01463373.2021.2001552
     https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2021.2001552 [Google Scholar]
  28. Jeong, E., & Lee, J.
    (2018) We take the red pill, we confront the DickTrix: online feminist activism and the augmentation of gendered realities in South Korea. Feminist Media Studies, (), –. 10.1080/14680777.2018.1447354
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447354 [Google Scholar]
  29. Jo, W., & Chang, D.
    (2020) Political consequences of COVID-19 and media framing in South Korea. Frontiers in Public Health, , Article 425, –. 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00425
     https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00425 [Google Scholar]
  30. Jung, S., & Hong, J.
    (2019) Gukga p’eminijeum, yeoseong gajokbu, yeoseong hyeomo [State Feminism, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Misogyny]. Media, Gender & Culture, (), –. 10.38196/mgc.2019.03.34.1.209
     https://doi.org/10.38196/mgc.2019.03.34.1.209 [Google Scholar]
  31. Kim, A.
    (2021, September6). [Us and Them] Lee Jun-seok and the rise of anti-feminism. The Korea Herald. www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210906000932
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Kim, E.-G., & Hamilton, J. W.
    (2006) Capitulation to capital? OhmyNews as alternative media. Media, Culture & Society, (), –. 10.1177/0163443706065028
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443706065028 [Google Scholar]
  33. Kim, J.
    (2017) #iamafeminist as the “mother tag”: feminist identification and activism against misogyny on Twitter in South Korea. Feminist Media Studies, (), –. 10.1080/14680777.2017.1283343
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2017.1283343 [Google Scholar]
  34. (2021) The resurgence and popularization of feminism in South Korea: Key issues and challenges for contemporary feminist activism. Korea Journal, (), –. 10.25024/kj.2021.61.4.75
     https://doi.org/10.25024/kj.2021.61.4.75 [Google Scholar]
  35. (2025) Calling out feminists: Antifeminist hijacking of cancel culture in South Korea. Television & New Media, (), –. 10.1177/15274764241277471
     https://doi.org/10.1177/15274764241277471 [Google Scholar]
  36. Kim, J. K.
    (2003) Psychological warfare during the Korean War: Its persistent effects on mediated political discourse between the U.S. and the Far East. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, (), –. 10.1075/japc.13.1.04kim
     https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.13.1.04kim [Google Scholar]
  37. Kim, M.-J., & Choi, S.-Y.
    (2005) Gihon yeoseongui jaawa gajok jilsoui gyunyeol–bonghap: gihon yeoseongdeului myeongjeol·jesa gyeongheomeul jungsimeuro [The married women’s selfhood and the family order cleavage-covering it over: Focusing on the married women’s experiences on Myung-jeol and Je-sa]. Issues in Feminism, , –. www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE01079534
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Kim, S.
    (2020) The# MeToo movement and Korean journalism: Comments on online news coverage of the trial of former governor Ahn Hee-jung. Journal of Asian Sociology, (), –. 10.21588/dns.2020.49.4.002
     https://doi.org/10.21588/dns.2020.49.4.002 [Google Scholar]
  39. Koo, J.
    (2020) South Korean cyberfeminism and trolling: the limitation of online feminist community Womad as counterpublic. Feminist Media Studies, (), –. 10.1080/14680777.2019.1622585
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2019.1622585 [Google Scholar]
  40. Langer, A. I., & Gruber, J. B.
    (2021) Political agenda setting in the hybrid media system: Why legacy media still matter a great deal. The International Journal of Press/Politics, (), –. 10.1177/1940161220925023
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220925023 [Google Scholar]
  41. Lee, H., Hur, J., Yeon, J., & Shim, H.
    (2022) Biased coverage of political rumors: Partisan bias in the media’s coverage of political rumors in the 2017 presidential election in South Korea through issue filtering and framing. International Journal of Communication, , –. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/17695/3754
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Lee, J., & Jeong, E.
    (2021) The 4B movement: envisioning a feminist future with/in a non-reproductive future in Korea. Journal of Gender Studies, (), –. 10.1080/09589236.2021.1929097
     https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2021.1929097 [Google Scholar]
  43. Lee, S.-H.
    (2020) Beyond the policy rhetoric: The limitations of gender mainstreaming in South Korea relating to women and childcare. Social Policy and Society, (), –. 10.1017/S1474746419000484
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746419000484 [Google Scholar]
  44. Lee, Y. I., & Jalalzai, F.
    (2017) President Park Geun-Hye of South Korea: A woman president without women?Politics and Gender, (), –. 10.1017/S1743923X17000204
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X17000204 [Google Scholar]
  45. Mendes, K.
    (2011) Framing feminism: News coverage of the women’s movement in British and American newspapers, 1968–1982. Social Movement Studies, (), –. 10.1080/14742837.2011.545228
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2011.545228 [Google Scholar]
  46. Ministry of Gender Equality and Family
    Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (2023) 2023 nyeon tonggyero boneun namnyeoui salm [Men’s and Women’s Lives Through 2023 Statistics] https://www.mogef.go.kr/nw/enw/nw_enw_s001d.do?mid=mda703&bbtSn=711394
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Moon, Y. E., Kim, H. H., & Park, D.
    (2023) “Can I become a true feminist?”: An interpretive analysis on the mirroring experience of young Korean women. Feminist Media Studies, (), –. 10.1080/14680777.2022.2042830
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2022.2042830 [Google Scholar]
  48. Mun, S.-H.
    (2015) ‘Femininity without Feminism’: Korea’s first woman president and her political leadership. Asian Journal of Social Science, (), –. 10.1163/15685314‑04303003
     https://doi.org/10.1163/15685314-04303003 [Google Scholar]
  49. Nam, S.
    (2010) The women’s movement and the transformation of the family law in South Korea. Interactions between local, national and global structures. European Journal of East Asian Studies, (), –. 10.1163/156805810X517670
     https://doi.org/10.1163/156805810X517670 [Google Scholar]
  50. OECD
    OECD (2023) Gender Wage Gap. 10.1787/7cee77aa‑en
     https://doi.org/10.1787/7cee77aa-en [Google Scholar]
  51. Oh, D. S., & Lee, S. H.
    (2023) 20dae jendeo galdeunge daehan nyuseu uije mit peureim bunseok: topik modelligwa teksteu bunryu algoritmoeul iyonghan 2022nyeon seongeo gukmyeoneseoui ’idaenam · idaenyeo’ hyeonsange daehan eollonbodo tamsaek [Analyzing the News Agenda and Frames of Gender Conflict in the 20s: Using Topic Modeling and Text Classification Algorithms To Explore Media Coverage of the ‘Men and Women in Their 20s’ Phenomenon in the Run-up to the 2022 Elections]. Korean Journal of Journalism and Communication, (), –. 10.20879/kjjcs.2023.67.3.005
     https://doi.org/10.20879/kjjcs.2023.67.3.005 [Google Scholar]
  52. Palley, M. L.
    (1990) Women’s status in South Korea: tradition and change. Asian Survey, (), –. 10.2307/2644990
     https://doi.org/10.2307/2644990 [Google Scholar]
  53. Patterson, L., & Chang, H.
    (2016) Post-feminism in Korea and its impact on equal opportunity policies on gender gap. International Journal of Knowledge and Innovation in Business, (), –.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Quinn, K. M., Monroe, B. L., Colaresi, M., Crespin, M. H., & Radev, D. R.
    (2010) How to analyze political attention with minimal assumptions and costs. American Journal of Political Science, (), –. 10.1111/j.1540‑5907.2009.00427.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00427.x [Google Scholar]
  55. Roberts, M. E., Stewart, B. M., & Airoldi, E. M.
    (2016) A model of text for experimentation in the social sciences. Journal of the American Statistical Association, (), –. 10.1080/01621459.2016.1141684
     https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.2016.1141684 [Google Scholar]
  56. Roberts, M. E., Stewart, B. M., & Tingley, D.
    (2019) stm: An R package for structural topic models. Journal of Statistical Software, (), –. 10.18637/jss.v091.i02
     https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v091.i02 [Google Scholar]
  57. Roberts, M. E., Stewart, B. M., Tingley, D., & Airoldi, E. M.
    (2013) The structural topic model and applied social science. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems Workshop on Topic Models: Computation, Application, and Evaluation, (), –.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Roberts, M. E., Stewart, B. M., Tingley, D., Lucas, C., Leder-Luis, J., Gadarian, S. K., Albertson, B., & Rand, D. G.
    (2014) Structural topic models for open-ended survey responses. American Journal of Political Science, (), –. 10.1111/ajps.12103
     https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12103 [Google Scholar]
  59. Roh, G.-W., & Lee, H.-W.
    (2022) Cheongnyeon sedae jendeo galdeunge gwanhan siljeungjeok yeongu: neungnyeokjuui wa un pyeongdeungjuireul jungsimeuro [An Empirical Study on the Gender Conflict of the Young Generation: Focusing on Meritocracy and Luck-egalitarianism]. The Korean Political Science Review, (), –. 10.18854/kpsr.2022.56.5.003
     https://doi.org/10.18854/kpsr.2022.56.5.003 [Google Scholar]
  60. Sa, E. S.
    (2009) Development of press freedom in South Korea since Japanese colonial rule. Asian Culture and History, (), –. 10.5539/ach.v1n2p3
     https://doi.org/10.5539/ach.v1n2p3 [Google Scholar]
  61. Schmiedel, T., Müller, O., & vom Brocke, J.
    (2019) Topic modeling as a strategy of inquiry in organizational research: A tutorial with an application example on organizational culture. Organizational Research Methods, (), –. 10.1177/1094428118773858
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428118773858 [Google Scholar]
  62. Shim, D.
    (2002) South Korean media industry in the 1990s and the economic crisis. Prometheus, (), –. 10.1080/0810902021000023336
     https://doi.org/10.1080/0810902021000023336 [Google Scholar]
  63. Shin, B.
    (2025) The role of media in diffusing participatory budgeting: News coverage between 1991 and 2022 in Korea using topic modelling. Journal of Deliberative Democracy, (). 10.16997/jdd.1464
     https://doi.org/10.16997/jdd.1464 [Google Scholar]
  64. Shin, B., & Boonjubun, C.
    (2021) Media and the meanings of land: A South Korean case study. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, (), –. 10.1111/ajes.12384
     https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12384 [Google Scholar]
  65. Shin, H.
    (2022, March18). South Korea president-elect’s pledge to shutter gender ministry stirs debate. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-president-elects-pledge-shutter-gender-ministry-stirs-debate-2022-03-18/
     [Google Scholar]
  66. Sung, S.
    (2003) Women reconciling paid and unpaid work in a Confucian welfare state: The case of South Korea. Social Policy & Administration, (), –. 10.1111/1467‑9515.00344
     https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9515.00344 [Google Scholar]
  67. Yang, S.-H.
    (2015, January26). On feminism and ISIS. Korean JoongAng Daily. https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2015/01/26/fountain/On-feminism-and-ISIS/3000120.html
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/japc.00117.oh
Loading
Historical and Partisan shifts in Korean press representation of feminism (1990–2022)
John Benjamins ; https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.00117.oh
/content/journals/10.1075/japc.00117.oh
/content/journals/10.1075/japc.00117.oh
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: feminism ; press discourse ; South Korea ; keyness analysis ; topic modeling

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error