Social imaginaries of digital technology in South Korea during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

This study examines common themes identified in discourses about digital technology–driven responses to COVID‐19 in South Korea. By examining how digital technology is represented and thematised in policy and news discourses, the study explores how particular modes of society and societal order are circulated and particular visions of the postpandemic society emerge. By employing the notion of social imaginary as a collective vision and practice of a desirable future, this research contributes to expanding the scope of policy studies that tend to be limited to rational decision‐making processes. It explores the role of the government that extends institutional forces to disseminate particular visions of the postpandemic society while addressing the media's response to the government‐circulated dominant social imaginary.