South Korean Media Representation of Yemeni Refugees

Abstract

This research examines how a handful of Yemeni refugees who arrived in South Korea are depicted in the online media news reports of the country. A total of 73 articles were collected from five different Korean English news outlets. The representation of social actor theory and conceptual metaphor theory were used in the analysis of the data. The outcomes of the analysis indicate that these Yemeni refugees are undesirably represented by the South Korean media. The continuance of such undesirable representation of these groups by the media, which is well-known for its influence on the public's frame of thought, endangers their existence. It is hoped that the multi-layered analysis of discourse that this research offers will provide awareness to readers about the way blameless Yemenis are negatively rendered in the online media news reports of South Korea.

Media Coverage of Syrian Female Refugees in Jordan and Lebanon

“…humanitarian in nature highlighting their suffering and urging the international community to empower them. This is inconsistent with Abid (2020) who found that refugees were negatively and undesirably portrayed in the media outlets of some host communities.…”

“…Several scholars have carried out different research studies about the status of females in general and female refugees in particular. Some of the studies discussed the representation of women in media (Abid, 2020;Ghazal Aswad, 2019;Haider & Olimy, 2019;Mustafa-Awad et al, 2019;Mustafa-Awad & Kirner-Ludwig, 2017;Narlı et al, 2020;Narlı & Özaşçılar, 2019). However, most of these studies did not pay considerable attention to how female refugees are stereotyped in national news agencies that publish mainly in Arabic.…”

“…This study contributes to the growing body of studies about the representation of refugees in general and female refugees in particular in media. Different studies have investigated the representation of minority groups, including refugees from different points of view: linguistically, discursively, politically, and socially (Abid, 2020;Ghazal Aswad, 2019;Haider & Olimy, 2019;Mustafa-Awad et al, 2019;Mustafa-Awad & Kirner-Ludwig, 2017;Narlı et al, 2020;Narlı & Özaşçılar, 2019). For example, Narlı et al (2020) examined the Turkish media coverage of Syrian women refugees from 2013 to 2015, and "identified 13 types of gender-based problems, and explored six main frames outlining these gender-based problems with specific perspectives of victim, criminal, threat, state of war and displacement, human, and remedy" (p. 15).…”

“…In the present study, the researchers investigate the same minority group in a relatively broader time span and check whether the media outlets yield similar/different thematic categories. Abid (2020) investigated the representation of Yemeni refugees in five online media outlets in South Korea using Van Leeuwen's sociological categories of discourse. The study found that this minority group is negatively and undesirably portrayed in media.…”