Debating Multicultural Korea: Media Discourse on Migrants and Minorities in South Korea

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, South Korea has experienced growing public debate about migrants, minorities and related government policies. Much of this ‘multicultural’ discourse occurs in the internet-based cyber-media, which offer space for various producers, including mainstream media professionals, netizens and resident foreigners. A prevailing discourse of victimhood is associated with small, ideologically homogeneous groups of media producers (mainstream media and nativist websites); in contrast, mixed and nuanced discourses are more common in large and heterogeneous online communities, where users interact with a variety of viewpoints. Moreover, actors who are framed in non-negative terms—as neither xenophobes nor corrupt elites—serve as more effective brokers and bridges across various media. Most foreign-origin netizens are passive consumers of media discourse; but a few, active foreigners communicate effectively with both mainstream media and netizens and help to diversify the prevailing discourse. We find supportive evidence from a content analysis of 15 websites, supplemented with informant interviews and observations.