Abstract

Being one of the few remaining communist States in the world, North Korea offers a good example of a constrained economy facing dramatic internal and external pressures. Although land transport dominates in North Korea due to border trade with China and Russia, maritime transport better reflects its position in the global economy. Based on worldwide vessel movements at all ports connected to North Korea between 1985 and 2006, indicators of maritime connectivity closely match the country's evolution according to its political and economical changes. Alongside with a spatial contraction of forelands stemming from diplomatic isolation, industrial decline, trade embargo, and infrastructure dereliction after the collapse of the USSR (1991) and the nuclear crisis (1993-1994), results also show a process of regionalization and port concentration in Northeast Asia at a time of increased openness, cooperation projects, and foreign investments following the inter-Korean summit (2000) and the economic reforms (2002). Finally, comment are given about internal factors such as inter-regional disconnection, transport system dereliction, logistics costs, and accessibility that result in a growing divide between East and West co

Abstract

This study proposes alternative measures of infotainment’s effects on audience perception and reception of news on social media, focusing on infotainment coverage of North Korea. We determine the elements of framing strategies and narrative styles in facilitating public attention, positive and negative responses, and engagement in news content. We used the YouTube application programming interface to collect data from VideoMug, Korea’s most popular YouTube channel, run by the Seoul Broadcasting System. We examined 23,774 replies commenting on North Korea-related video clips from July 1, 2018, to May 17, 2019. The findings show that entertainment and human interest frames were effective in drawing public attention to news coverage about North Korea. Using humor and colloquial language facilitated public attention (both positive and negative) and public engagement. Over half (59.55%) of the comments generated positive emotions; less than one-third generated negative emotions (31.41%); and a few generated neutral ones (9.03%). The infotainment approach helped make South Koreans’ attitudes toward North Korea and inter-Korean relations more positive. A small number of users who served as top authorities were extremely partisan and conducted intense debates about infotainment practices. This study’s hybrid analytical framework using computerized text mining techniques offers both theoretical and methodological insights into the function of infotainment in the context of social media.