Korea Media Discourse and Policymaking on Air Pollution: From Yellow Dust to Particulate Matter

Abstract

Air pollution is a serious threat to the well-being of South Koreans. This threat has been described in the media as stemming from various sources over the past two decades. This thesis aims to identify which environmental phenomena became the focus of issue-attention cycles and that may have influenced policymaking. In addition, it aims to identify framing attempts in the media surrounding the source of the issue and track how this has changed over time. Over 900 Chosun Ilbo articles from 1995 to 2017 were analyzed. The results show that issue-attention cycles related to yellow dust and particulate matter occurred during the timeframe, but bureaucratic policy actions did not necessarily take place in response to these attention cycles. The framing analysis reveals that starting in 2016, domestic sources of particulate matter became a focus of framing attempts and this may be related to policy plans announced in 2017 by the newly-elected president. These results indicate that future studies should: 1) differentiate between policy actions taken by bureaucracies and by elected officials and 2) investigate framing on the source of pollution as it may be linked to what types of policy actions (mitigation vs. adaptation) are taken by the state.