Networked Collective Actions: The Making of an Impeachment

201 Pages·2021·1.264 MB·English

by  Hyunjin Seo

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Networked Collective Actions
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Oxford Studies in Digital Politics
Series Editor: Andrew Chadwick, Professor of Political Communication
in the Centre for Research in Communication and Culture and
the Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University
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Networked Politics from Howard Dean to Communication and Digital Democracy in
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Francis L.F. Lee and Joseph M. Chan
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Communication Technology in Areas of Sarah Sobieraj
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Steven Livingston and Gregor
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Walter- Drop
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Digital Feminist Activism: Girls and Women
Citizenship in the 21st Century
Fight Back Against Rape Culture
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Kaitlynn Mendes, Jessica Ringrose, and
Jessalynn Keller Outside the Bubble: Social Media
and Political Participation in Western
Digital Cities: The Internet and the
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Karen Mossberger, Caroline J. Tolbert,
and William W. Franko The Internet and Political Protest in
Autocracies
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Nils B. Weidmann and Espen
Internet in the Post- Soviet Sphere
Geelmuyden Rød
Sarah Oates
The Civic Organization and the Digital
Disruptive Power: The Crisis of the State in
Citizen: Communicating Engagement in a
the Digital Age
Networked Age
Taylor Owen
Chris Wells
Affective Publics: Sentiment, Technology,
Computational Propaganda: Political
and Politics
Parties, Politicians, and Political
Zizi Papacharissi
Manipulation on Social Media
Money Code Space: Hidden Power in Samuel Woolley and Philip N. Howard
Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Decentralisation
Networked Publics and Digital Contention: The
Jack Parkin
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Networked Collective
Actions
THE MAKING OF AN IMPEACHMENT
HYUNJIN SEO
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1
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1. Introduction 1
2. Agent- Affordance Framework of Networked Collective Actions 17
3. The Changing Information Ecosystem in South Korea 31
4. Candlelight Vigils and Citizen Activism 45
5. Sewol Ferry Disaster: Growing Anger Toward President Park 59
6. Networked Collective Action and the Impeachment
of President Park 73
7. Park’s Supporters Fight Back: Conspiracy Theories and
Far- Right Groups 99
8. After the Candles Were Extinguished: Post- impeachment Issues 117
9. Conclusion: Evolving Agent- Affordance Interactions and
Information Ecosystem 133
Appendix A. List of Interviews 145
Appendix B. Timeline of Events Related to Park Geun- hye Impeachment 153
Notes 155
References 157
Index 177
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Acknowledgments
I vividly recall the collective gasp at Chunchugwan, the press center of South
Korea’s presidential Blue House, when the National Assembly voted to impeach
then President Roh Moo- hyun on March 12, 2004, on a charge of illegal elec-
tioneering. At that time, I was covering presidential affairs as a correspondent
to the presidential office for a South Korean newspaper. During the impeach-
ment period, I reported on responses from the Blue House and other govern-
ment entities during the day and observed citizens’ candlelight vigils in Seoul’s
Gwanghwamun area in the evening. Citizens held a series of candlelight vigils
against President Roh’s impeachment, and the Constitutional Court ultimately
ruled in Roh’s favor on May 14, 2004.
About 12 years later, this time as a scholar teaching at a U.S. university,
I watched another presidential impeachment process unfold in South Korea. In
reaction to media revelations of large- scale corruption involving President Park
Geun- hye and her longtime friend Choi Soon- sil, millions of South Koreans
called for her removal from office in a series of candlelight vigils at Gwanghwamun
Square in downtown Seoul over 20 consecutive weekends between October
2016 and March 2017. The National Assembly voted to impeach President Park
on December 9, 2016, and on March 10, 2017 the Constitutional Court unani-
mously judged in favor of the National Assembly’s charges. Park, the first woman
president in South Korea, became the country’s first president removed from
office by impeachment since the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948.
As discussed in this book, there are many differences between the Roh and
Park cases, including types and levels of communication technologies used
by various agents (e.g., citizens, journalists, activists, and politicians). Media
coverage of Park’s corruption scandal, citizen mobilizations calling for Park’s
impeachment, and the removal of Park involved interactions between jour-
nalism, politics, citizen activism, digital media, misinformation, and far- right
movements. As a journalist-t urned- academic with reporting experiences in
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viii Acknowledgments
presidential affairs and politics and a research background in collective action
and digital media, I was eager to conduct a major research project focused on
Park’s impeachment, and this book is the result.
For over three years, I conducted in- depth interviews with South Korean
citizens attending candlelight vigils calling for the impeachment of President
Park, as well as with Park’s supporters who held rallies against the impeach-
ment. My interviews included journalists whose reports on Park’s corruption
scandal motivated citizens to hold candlelight vigils, activists who mobilized
resources for citizen rallies, government officials, and technologists. This book
project gave me an excuse to visit South Korea, my country of birth, and also
Gwanghwamun, which has served as a modern agora for South Koreans and is
one of my favorite places in Seoul. Toward the end of my data collection, the
COVID- 19 pandemic hit the world, and I was unable to make several planned
trips to South Korea in 2020 for follow- up interviews. Instead, interviews dur-
ing the pandemic were conducted via Zoom. In- depth interviews and analysis
of media reports, social media posts, and secondary data sources form the main
empirical data for this book.
Support from many organizations and individuals was essential for this proj-
ect. While it would be impossible to list all these organizations and individuals
here, I do want to mention some whose support and resources were particularly
important. First of all, this book would not have been possible without citizens,
journalists, activists, and government officials who agreed to be interviewed.
The complete list of interviewees is available in Appendix A. Journalists pro-
vided detailed information about how their media organizations covered Park’s
impeachment, their interactions with citizens and government officials during
that time, and influences of digital media on their reporting. Activists and social
media influencers who played major roles during impeachment candlelight vig-
ils provided important insights on social media– facilitated collective action in
South Korea as well as access to important secondary data. Government offi-
cials, people working at technology companies, and nonprofit organization rep-
resentatives all offered contextual information for this book.
I also want to acknowledge the generous financial support from the follow-
ing organizations: Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication
and Society; Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University;
and the Center for East Asian Studies at University of Kansas. Their support
enabled me to visit South Korea for data collection and helped defray the cost
of research assistance.
Significant initial research and writing for this book was done when I was
a resident fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet &
Society in 2018 and 2019. I presented my initial idea at the Fellows Hour at
the center and received helpful feedback from colleagues. I also want to thank
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Acknowledgments ix
my colleagues in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass
Communications at University of Kansas for their support throughout this
project. In addition, the Center for East Asian Studies at University of Kansas
offered an opportunity for me to receive feedback from other scholars interested
in media and civic engagement in Korea.
Many colleagues and friends provided valuable comments at different stages.
Given the interdisciplinary nature of this book, receiving input from people in
different disciplines was helpful, and I am fortunate to have had thoughtful and
generous colleagues and friends who were willing to spend time to provide feed-
back. I want to specifically thank Nick Couldry, Judith Donath, Robert Faris,
Bruce Schneider, and Pamela Shoemaker who provided helpful feedback on
early drafts of this book. In particular, their comments contributed to improving
my theoretical framework and adding contextual information that may not be
apparent to those less familiar with historical, social, political, or technological
environments in South Korea. In addition, I owe thanks to the following people
who offered helpful suggestions on different components of the book manu-
script or introduced me to relevant resources: Hee-j ung Cho, Nam- hyun Choi,
Mariel Garcia- Montes, Mary Gray, Armando Guio, Jae- kwang Han, Jongho Han,
Eszter Hargittai, Cheolmin Kim, Heejun Kim, Yong-j in Kim, Hae- in Lee, Hyun-
woo Lee, Jeongmin Lee, Kangduk Lee, Mi- hyun Lee, Jeongsub Lim, Jasmine
McNearly, Sabelo Mhlambi, Paola Ricaurte, Eui- dong Seo, Yong- seok Sohn,
Becca Tabasky, Hong Tien Vu, and Ethan Zuckerman. I am solely responsible
for any errors in this book.
My thanks also go to Oxford University Press editors Andrew Chadwick
and Angela Chnapko, who provided helpful guidance throughout the process.
Working with the excellent team at Oxford University Press made the entire pro-
cess more enjoyable. I also want to thank anonymous reviewers for their detailed
and helpful comments.
Finally, I want to thank my wonderful partner Stu for his love, support, humor,
and comfort while writing this book and beyond. I am also grateful to my sisters,
brothers- in- law, nephews, and nieces in South Korea who have remained close to
me despite physical distance. I dedicate this book to my parents. My dad, who is
no longer with us, instilled in me curiosity, independence, and resilience, which
has proved to be essential in many aspects of my professional and personal life,
including writing this book. My mom has been a constant source of comfort for
me. She studied English again in her late years so that she can better understand
what I write. Mom, I hope you enjoy reading this book!