ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an overview on how the technological diffusion of digital media has influenced the development of democracy in South Korea. Citing Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, M. Plattner states that three domains – political parties, media and civil society – provide the channels through which the opinions of the people are formed and transmitted. Mass media in Korea have tested the limits of their freedom and independence. The power shift from a conservative to a reformist government in 1998 saw a major confrontation between different ideological, political interests in Korea. The Internet in Korea has emerged against a backdrop of concerns about apparently declining public engagement in politics, weak institutionalization of political parties, and heightened levels of skepticism politicians and mainstream media. Online media, which changed because of political events, have affected both political parties and civil society, eventually played a major role in advancing democracy in Korea.