한국 신문에 나타난 중국의 국가 이미지: 한국에서의 중국의 미디어 외교 평가

Abstract

As a major global power competing with the U.S., China has recently stepped up its media and public diplomacy efforts to show off its soft power and improve its global image. China particularly worked hard to improve its image in Korea which is fast becoming its key economic, social and cultural partner. To see whether such public relations efforts are bearing any fruits, this study analyzed the image of China shown in Korea’s major newspapers through a news frame analysis. The results show that China’s overall image is negative. The main image appearing in the papers is that of a “confrontational competitor” against Korea with a “suppressive and corrupt” political system and a “unilateral” foreign policy. Yet its economy showed a positive “continuous growth” image. These images were different from the messages China tries to send to the Korean public and media. Results support previous research findings that news media often construct reality and national images through their own subjective news frames regardless of messages from news sources or public relations practitioners. Reasons for such findings and policy implications for media diplomacy practitioners are discussed in the conclusion.