Table Of ContentThe Candlelight Movement, Democracy,
and Communication in Korea
This book examines key features, problems, and implications of the 2016–
2017 Candlelight Movement, a historical cornerstone for democracy and
social movements in South Korea.
The Candlelight Movement brought profound social changes with impor-
tant lessons and questions for scholars, practitioners, activists, and the pub-
lic. To examine the full complexity of the movement, this edited volume
utilises wide-ranging methodological and theoretical approaches, which
include case study approaches, ethnography, survey, feminist film criticism,
critical discourse analysis, and rhetorical criticism. Chapters place ‘commu-
nication’ at the centre of their analyses, calling attention to the mediated and
mediatised, the performative and other discursive practices of the 2016–2017
Candlelight Movement. In doing so, the book discusses not only the usual
players and factors – nor the institutions that exert their influence through
democratic politics and the public sphere – but also the counter-public
embracing new and social media, collective singing, the body, and perfor-
mance, as their choice of political media. As such, this volume offers impor-
tant insights into how communication plays a critical role in forming, moving,
and transforming new social movements.
The Candlelight Movement, Democracy, and Communication in Korea will
appeal to students and scholars of communication and media studies, politi-
cal science, sociology, and Korean studies.
JongHwa Lee is an associate professor in the Department of Communication
and Mass Media at Angelo State University. Currently, he is working on the
issues of Cold War rhetoric in Korea, historical justice and collective memory
in Asia, and social justice activism and global citizenship.
Chuyun Oh (Ph.D. in Performance Studies, UT Austin) is an assistant profes-
sor of Dance Theory at San Diego State University. As a Fulbright scholar,
she focuses on performance ethnography, activism, and racial and gender
identities in transnational popular dance in social media.
Yong-Chan Kim is a professor at the Department of Communication at
Yonsei University. He has researched on the areas of urban communication,
new media technology, and public health/risk. His most recent books include
The Communication Ecology of 21st Century Urban Communities and Media
and Community.
Routledge Advances in Korean Studies
44. The State, Class and Developmentalism in South Korea
Development as Fetish
Hae-Yung Song
45. Development Prospects for North Korea
Edited by Tae Yong Jung and Sung Jin Kang
46. The Road to Multiculturalism in South Korea
Ideas, Discourse, and Institutional Change in a Homogenous Nation-State
Timothy Lim
47. Healing Historical Trauma in South Korean Film and Literature
Chungmoo Choi
48. Exporting Urban Korea?
Reconsidering the Korean Urban Development Experience
Edited by Se Hoon Park, Hyun Bang Shin and Hyun Soo Kang
49. Defense Planning and Readiness of North Korea
Armed to Rule
Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi
50. Interviews with North Korean Defectors
From Kim Shin-jo to Thae Yong-ho
Lim Il
Edited by Adam Zulawnik
51. The Korean War and Postmemory Generation
Contemporary Korean Arts and Films
Dong-Yeon Koh
52. The Candlelight Movement, Democracy, and Communication in Korea
JongHwa Lee, Chuyun Oh and Yong-Chan Kim
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
asianstudies/series/SE0505
The Candlelight Movement,
Democracy, and Communication
in Korea
Edited by
JongHwa Lee, Chuyun Oh, and
Yong-Chan Kim
First published 2022
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, JongHwa Lee, Chuyun Oh, and
Yong-Chan Kim; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of JongHwa Lee, Chuyun Oh, and Yong-Chan Kim to be
identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors
for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lee, JongHwa, editor. | Oh, Chuyun, 1984- editor. |
Kim, Yong-ch'an, 1967- editor. Title: The Candlelight Movement,
democracy, and communication in Korea / edited by JongHwa Lee,
Chuyun Oh, and Yong-Chan Kim. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ;
New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. |
Series: Routledge advances in Korean studies | Includes bibliographical
references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2021013368 | ISBN 9780367415976 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781032069326 (paperback) | ISBN 9781000439526 (adobe pdf) |
ISBN 9781000439595 (epub) | ISBN 9780367823115 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Social movements–Korea (South) | Social change–
Korea (South) | Democracy–Korea (South) | Political participation–
Korea (South) | Korea (South)–Social conditions–21st century. |
Korea (South)–Politics and government–2002-
Classification: LCC HN730.5.A8 C326 2022 | DDC 306.095195–
dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021013368
ISBN: 978-0-367-41597-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-06932-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-82311-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780367823115
Typeset in Times New Roman
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
Contents
List of figures and tables vii
List of contributor biographies viii
Acknowledgments x
Introduction 1
JONGHWA LEE, CHUYUN OH, AND YONG-CHAN KIM
PART I
Media and media space 9
1 A crisis of press freedom: Investigative journalism and the
downfall of the President 11
HUN SHIK KIM
2 One small action for the larger movement 23
HOJEONG LEE
3 Social media use on protest sites during the 2016–2017
candlelight vigils in Seoul 34
YONG-CHAN KIM
PART II
Culture and performance 49
4 “With the brightest light we have”: K-pop fandom in
candlelight movement and diversification of
Korean protest culture 51
JUNGWON KIM
5 Channeling anger into hope 69
YOULLEE KIM
vi Contents
6 Dancing for hope: The shamanic ritual and performative
Koreanness at the candlelight protests 84
CHUYUN OH
PART III
Counterpublics and representation 101
7 Contested neoliberal vulnerability: Laboring, feminine, and
queer subjects in the streets of the impeachment protest 103
JIWOON YULEE
8 The conservative news media outlets: Blowing out
candles for economic democracy 116
HUIKYONG PANG
9 From flags to candles: Visual hailing and articulation
of nation 132
JONGHWA LEE
Appendix: An analysis of contemporary Korean society
through the Candlelight Movement: A historical perspective
to the social phenomena and changes
153
JIN-GEOL AHN
Index 163
Figures and tables
Figures
4.1 Participatory paintings created by protesters at a rally.
(Photo by the author) 52
4.2 A personal banner brought by an individual participant in a
protest. (Photo by the author) 53
4.3 The front (“With the Brightest Light We Have”) and back
(“Geun-hye Park, Walk on Only the Imprisonment Way”) of
DFU’s own slogan-printed flyer. (Photo by the author) 60
4.4 K-pop fan protesters’ glow sticks for the final stage of a rally
in the candlelight movement. (Photo by the author) 63
5.1 Theoretical framework of the relationships among anger,
collective coping potential, and hope in the context of
collective events. 73
6.1 Ae-ju Lee (on the left) performs “Barammaji” dance at Han-
Yol Lee’s funeral. The student victim’s sister (on the right)
cries watching her dance. (Photo credit: The Dong-a Ilbo.
Reprinted with permission.) 93
9.1 A Typical Candlelight Protest. (Photo courtesy of
Yong-Chan Kim.) 138
Tables
2.1 Data from interviews with 21 Korean diaspora members
who participated in the candlelight vigils 27
3.1 Percentage (%) of people who used social media for
different purposes during protest 39
3.2 Relationships between everyday uses of social media and
social media use during protest by age groups 41
3.3 Relations between social media use during protest and
protest participation experience 42
8.1 The number of news articles for analysis 121
8.2 Three-stage discourse analysis 121
Contributor biographies
Jin-Geol Ahn is a visiting professor at Sang-Ji University and the Director of
People’s Livelihood Economy Research Institute. Formerly, he served as
Spokesperson of the Emergency People’s Action for the Resigning of
Geun-Hye Park administration, and Secretary General of the People’s
Solidarity for Participatory Democracy.
Min Wha Han is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication
at West Texas A&M University. Influenced by Critical Rhetorical scholar-
ship, her research examines the arenas of multicultural contacts where
diverse voices, memories, and identities are represented, negotiated, and
also silenced.
Hun Shik Kim is a professor of journalism at the University of Colorado in
Boulder. His teaching and research interests include broadcast journalism
and international communication. A former journalist at the Korean
Broadcasting System (KBS), Dr. Kim is the author of two books and
numerous research articles.
Jungwon Kim is an ethnomusicologist specializing in popular culture and
gender. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside.
Her dissertation, K-Popping: Korean Women, K-Pop, and Fandom, auto-
ethnographically examined Korean female K-pop fandom. She teaches
K-pop-related courses at universities in Seoul.
Youllee Kim is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication
Studies at University of Denver. She studies social influence and health
communication. With special interests in understanding people’s desire for
collectively improving existing conditions, she seeks to understand how
communication evokes and spreads hope in a way that results in meaning-
ful community-level outcomes.
Hojeong Lee, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at San Jose State University. Her
scholarship centers on digital media, social movements, and identities in
local, national, and global media contexts. Her recent book is Korean
Digital Diaspora: Transnational Social Movements and Diaspora Identity.
Contributor biographies ix
Huikyong Pang is a research professor in the Sogang Global Korea Initiative
of Sogang University (Seoul, South Korea). Her recent works include
“Aesthetical Characteristics of South Korean Newspaper Cartoon,”
“Mobility of the Seoul Subway and Women’s Experiences,” and “Affective
Labor and Labor Ethics of K-pop Idols.”
Jiwoon Yulee is a postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State University.
Jiwoon’s research focuses on the intersectional politics of feminist activ-
ism and labor struggles in South Korea. Jiwoon is currently working on
her book manuscript, Expressive Struggles: Social Reproduction of
Feminized Labor and Neoliberal Time in South Korea.
