Wiix." J.'i.J^iH?

:^^-^

TV, CULTURE, AND AUDIENCE IN KOREA:

A RECEPTION STUDY OF KOREAN DRAMA

by

DO-GOAN KIM, B.B.A.

A THESIS
IN

MASS COMMUNICATIONS

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty

of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

December, 1998
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

would like to express my sincere appreciation to the chairperson of my

committee. Dr. Jimmie Reeves, for this inspiration, guidance, and interest in the

subject matter of this thesis. Without his direction and patience, this work could

not have been successfully completed.

Special thanks are also extended to the other committee members. Dr.

Dennis Harp and Dr. Joe Bob Hester, for their assistance and criticism.

\additionally, I would like to thank my family for their support and encouragement

making this study possible.

11
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

LIST OF TABLES v

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION 1

Background of the Study 1

The Purpose of the Study 4

Television in Korea 4

Confucianism Versus New Trends in Modern Korea .... 6

The Purpose of the Study 8

II. LITERATURE REVIEW 12

TV 12

Meaning of Construction of Gender 13

Criticism and Feedback 16

The World of Broadcasting 19

Korean Broadcasting System 22

The Short History of Broadcasting in Korea 22

The Broadcasting under Military Regime

(1960-1987) 24

The Broadcasting under Non-Military regime

(since 1987) 27

Media Context and Audience in Korea 31

III. RESEARCH QUESTION AND METHODOLOGY 39

iii
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Research Question 39

Methodology 40

Collecting Feedback Items 41

IV. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND RECEPTION STUDY 43

See and See 43

Textual Analysis 45

Representing Traditional Values 46

Televisual Texts Based on the Newly Emerging Values 50

Reception Study 53

Marriage 55

Married Life 57

Evaluation of the Drama 60

V. CONCLUSION 68

REFERENCES 73

IV
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LIST OF TABLES

1. Sourcesof Information of Korean People in 1997 10

2. Percentage of Professional Females workers in Korea 10

3. Educational Attainment of Korean Women (25 years old & over) 11

4. The Broadcasting Systems of the U.S., British, and Russia 35

5. The Korean Broadcasting System under the Park and Chun Military
Regime 35

6. Ratings and Shares among Three Korean TV Networks for

The First Half of 1998 36

7. Three TV Networks'Characteristics in Korea in the 1990s 36

8. The Numbers of Television Sets and Radio Receivers in Korea 37

9. Computer Ownership per 1,000 Persons and PC Communication

Service Subscribers 38

10. Main Characters in the Drama See and See 65

11. Total Responses Sent to See and See 66

12. The Responses according to Period 66

13. The Access Rate per an Audience Member 67

14. The Collected Audience Feedback Items and Their Trends
According to four Topics 67
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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Culture consists of knowledge, beliefs, perceptions, attitudes,

expectations, values, and patterns of behavior that people learn by growing up in

a given society. Television occupies an important place in culture and society. In

addition to providing audiences with a variety of entertainment and information

services, the electronic media influence culture and help define social reality

(McQuail, 1997). As practiced today, television is just one of the windows

through which we observe, transmit and reflect our valuation of society to each

other. While some argue that the television medium only responds to and reflects

the social climate, others suggest that television takes a much more active role in

the production of culture. In either case, television is an important object of

study.

Since the advent of broadcast audience studies in the 1930s, research

has concentrated on two major areas: measuring audience and determining the

effects upon various audience groups. All forms of electronic media share the

goal of generating audiences. Therefore, the audience is one of the central

elements of media studies. For this reason, broadcasting stands in special need

of systematic audience research. However, because television consumption

typically takes place in private, and also because of the freedom of audience
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members to tune in or out, broadcasters urgently need objective, scientific, and

continuing research to read audiences (Eastman and Ferguson, 1996).

Unfortunately, early in its development, broadcasting became stereotyped

as a one-way medium. Prior to the 1980s, most people in the country watched

the same programming at the same relative time. Individuals could accept or

reject the programs, but they could not talk back or interact. Therefore, obtaining

audience feedback has not been easy.

The most common way to think about the media audience is conceiving of

the audience as a mass. As Bogart (1996) has observed, "the bulk of

communication research is commercial research and is addressed to the

question of measuring audiences, rather than to study of the process through

which audiences reject or ingest the information presented to them" (p. 138).

Traditionally, program and audience research splits into qualitative investigations

of audience reactions and preferences and quantitative ratings information on

audience size, age, and sex (Eastman and Ferguson, 1996).

Quantitative audience data generally provide measures of the size and

demographic composition of sets of viewers. Among them, ratings are the major

form of program evaluation, selection, and scheduling. However, quantitative

data in the form of ratings do not report why people make specific program

choices. Therefore, programmers use qualitative information on programs to

select and improve programs and to understand audiences' reactions to program

content. One method of gathering information from a group of people is to

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conduct small group testing: a focus group which consists of 10 or 12 people

involved in a controlled discussion on a predetermined topic. Network television

N.

and major-market stations make use of TvQs (television quotients). TvQs

measure the popularity and familiarity of a program and the performers in it.

Qualitative research methods such as focus groups and TvQs interpret ratings

information; they tell programmers what ratings mean. The results of qualitative

research, however, have interpretational limits because the small samples are

not representative of the population (Eastman and Ferguson, 1996).

Today, as the combination of rapid technological change has been

reshaping the media landscape, the whole concept of television as a form of

mass communication has begun to change. With the introduction of a variety of

delivery systems, TV has become a more fractionalized medium that appeals to

smaller groups of consumers (Gross, 1997). This new environment requires

media providers to find new approaches to audience studies.

The development of computer technology and the distribution of the

Internet have played an important role in changing the concept of television from

one-way medium to interactive medium. Most TV stations have Internet

homepages and provide audiences with chances to contact the provider. Chat

groups, bulletin boards, and E-mail, for example, are effective means of

obtaining audience feedback.

The audience feedback through these means may be used as important

data not only for the industry but also for the scholarly analysis of audience
reception. Audience feedback provides a unique tool to gain insight into the

process of how texts are received by audience. Audience feedback is the result

of autonomous activity by audience's decoding televisual texts. Messages from

audience feedback can be a useful resource for audience research which

studies the process of individual decoding on a micro level. Moreover, if these

messages have commonality and constitute a public opinion, audience feedback

can be a valuable resource not only on micro level but also in studies which read

the cultural trend of a society on a macro level. If television is one of the windows

through which we observe culture and society, audience feedback should be

another window.

The Purpose of the Study

Television in Korea

Paradoxically, each national broadcasting system has a unique quality. A

country's broadcasting system mirrors national character, expressing a particular

political philosophy and cultural identity. "National characters" in the contexts

refers not only to traits native to a particular country but also to adopted or

imposed traits. A country's mass media system is interdependent with other

subsystems.

Since 1970s, as one of Asia's newly industrializing countries, Korea has

experienced rapid economic growth and change in its major sectors including the

economy, culture, and mass media. Reflecting such development, the Korean
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broadcasting industry has evolved its own unique structure. Since the 70s and

80s, when Korea was under a period of rapid industrialization, mass media has

been a powerful force in the process of modernization. In the 1990s, the

introduction of satellite and cable broadcasting provides audiences with a wider

breadth of media choices. However, television has still occupied the most

powerful position in the Korean media industry. As Table 1 shows, television

significantly affects the ways people think and act in all aspects of social life.

The rating data of the most popular programs in Korea express the power

of television. For example, Bogo Tou Bogo {See and See) recorded a rating of

56.8 on October 12, 1998, while the rating of ER, the most watched program in

the United States, was 19.6. These differences, of course, are caused by the

disparities in the breadjth of media choice^and the way ratings are measured in

two countries.

In Korea, another landmark of television broadcasting in the 1990s was

the establishment of a new commercial TV network, SBS (Seoul Broadcasting

System). In the 1980s, there were two national TV networks, KBS (Korean

Broadcasting System) and MBC (Munwha Broadcasting Corporation). KBS is a

public TV network operated by license fee and advertising revenue. MBC is

another public network depending entirely upon advertising revenue. Because

the two public networks had been operated under government control, the birth

of SBS, operated by private owners, had even more significance. SBS has

exploited different programming strategies to compete with KBS and MBC. Its
l^K«:

strategies are similar to Fox's in the United States. Fox built its reputation by

"offering viewers an alternative to the big three networks while maintaining

network quality" (Eastman and Ferguson, 1996, p. 134). Fox went after

innovative programs targeting children and young viewers. SBS also targeted

young viewers, and thus it has contributed to an increase of entertainment-

oriented programs and forced changes in other two networks' programming

strategies. For this reason, the TV broadcasting market in Korea has become

much more competitive. The competition among the three TV networks has

generated an important issue: Are TV programs now only oriented toward high

ratings, rather than the common good of the audience?

Basically, Korean broadcasting considers "broadcasting for the good of

the people" as an important motto. The important function of broadcasting in

Korea is to enlighten people while responding to audience interests. However,

with the high competitiveness among three networks, TV programs meant to

generate high ratings have challenged the original function of broadcasting in

Korea and the traditional values of Korean society.

Confucianism Versus New Trends in Modern Korea

Traditionally, Korea is one of the most conservative countries in Asia and

has considered Confucianism as an important value system. Especially, the

system of patriarchy in Confucianism is an important rule of Korean society.

According to custom, there has been segregation of social members according

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to sex in Korean society. Women occupied passive and subordinate positions.

They never had a chance to raise their voices in public under a strong male

dominant social system.

However, contemporary Korea has undergone rapid social change under

the forces of modernization. Korean women have been active in demanding and

winning educational opportunities. Women in modern Korea are productive

individuals who contribute to both career and family. For example, the

percentage of professional workers among employed females increased from

6.9% in 1989 to 11.2% in 1995 (Table 2). Also, the percentage of female

population with higher education (college & over) increased from 8.3% in 1990 to

13.1% in 1995 (Table 3). The improved social positions and the higher education

attainment of females in modern Korea have caused many conflicts with the

traditions of Confucianism.

TV programs have played an important role in mediating these conflicts.

Many women have been vocal in their opposition to TV content that depicts

women as passive or subordinate objects or shows improper treatments for

women. Furthermore, as the Internet provides a convenient means with which

they may express their opinions, women have more chances to criticize the male

dominant society. Because Korean people continue to keep Confucianism as a

primary value during the past several hundred years, these women's voices

sometimes challenge the existing order of Korean society. These feminist

opinions can be considered as revolutionary ideas in Korean society.

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At the same time, there are equally passionate reactionary opinions

against feminism in Korea. Since Confucianism became the state religion in the

fourteenth century, it has deep roots in the lifestyle of Korean society and family.

Therefore, some people think that the strong demands from feminists may bring

"a confusion of social order" in Korean society.

The Purpose of the Study

In 1998, one TV drama. See And See {Bogo Tou Bogo), mined these

controversies. Because the drama was the top-rated program in Korea, about

twelve thousand feedback items were collected through the network's Internet

homepage. This study treats the audience feedback as interpretations of

televisual texts by individuals with diverse experiences, lifestyles, and

backgrounds. Therefore, this study argues that the feedback sent to the drama

by viewers can provide a useful data set for an audience reception study.

The rapid change of Korean society provides people with different cultural

environments and affects their lifestyles and the ways of thinking. Given that fact,

the traditional patriarchal system and the rapid change of Korean society,

especially the improved social positions of women, can be significant causes of

differences in the interpretation of media messages among audience members.

The main purpose of the study is to reveal how the audience members decode

televisual texts through analyzing audience feedback, focusing on the conflicts

between the traditional way of thinking and emerging feminist opinions in Korean

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society. This study hopes not only to offer an example of analysis of Korean

audience reception but also to provide a chance to read the unique social

conditions of modern Korea in which the traditional way and the rather reformist

way of thinking co-exist.

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Table 1

Sources of Information Acquisition of Korean People in 1997

Broadcasting Newspaper Book Internet Family Other

&Friends

76.9% 15.6% 1.0% 0.6% 5.8% 0.1%

Source of Information: National Statistical Office (Social Statistics Survey)

Table 2

Percentage of Professional Female Workers in Korea (In 1,000 persons)

Year Total Females Professional & Administrative & (B+ C) /A (%)

Employed (A) Technical (B) Managerial (C)
1989 7,152 486 11 6.9%
1990 7,376 555 11 7.7%
1991 7,535 624 12 8.4%
1992 7.639 717 12 9.5%
1993 7,738 823 32 11.0%
1994 8,005 814 25 10.5%
1995 8,224 896 23 11.2%

Source of Information: National Statistical Office (Economically Active Population

Survey)

10
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Table 3

Educational Attainment of Korean Women (25 years old & over) (%)

Primary school Middle school High school College

graduates & Graduates graduates graduates &
under over
1980 67.0 16.5 12.9 3.6
1985 54.1 20.5 20.2 5.2
1990 43.0 20.3 28.4 8.3
1995 35.0 17.1 34.8 13.1

Source of Information: National Statistical Office (Population & Housing Census)

11
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CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Collins (1997), television has became "an important social

force of construction of meaning about self, surpassing the family, the

educational system, and religion" (p. 109). Weaver and Wakshlag (1986)

explained that direct experience, indirect experience, and observation constitute

the three major influences on interpersonal behavior. They suggested that when

direct experience is lacking or ambiguous, social perception are formed and

reinforced by lower-order influences such as television message. Bagdikian

(1987) expressed television as a force shaping the public mind, "the mass media

became the authority at any given moment for what is true and what is false,

what is reality and what is fantasy, what is important and what is trivial" (p. xviii).

The idea "television as a rich source" is based on the social learning

theory which explains that in addition to real life models, television models are

used by viewers to shape behavior (Bandura, 1977) and cultivation theory which

explains that viewers' expectations of real-life experiences are shaped by the

experiences they see depicted on television.

However, the impact of television on meaning construction is a more

complex process than the universal reception of audience as a mass implied by

many critical theorists. Media messages are perceived differently according to

12
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the diverse backgrounds, cultures, and life-styles of individual audience

members (Collins, 1997). Therefore, the social construction of meaning in

televisual texts depends upon the way that viewers interpret a text in relation to

their social context. Allen (1987) argued "meaning should be no longer viewed

as the immutable property of text, but must be considered the result of the

confrontation between reading act and textual structure" (p. 75).

If television programs themselves can be texts, television viewing must be

seen as a productive process of the construction of meaning. Therefore, the

construction of meaning from television programs requires audience's active and

ongoing process of interpretation. Morley (1992) argued that "television viewing

should be examined in the broader context of studies of consumption as a

symbolic as well as a material process" (p. 173). In this view, television viewing

can be considered a collective activity fully absorbed into everyday routine of

audience. In Collins' analysis (1997) of viewer letters sent to Murptiy Brown, he

said "viewers report both the collectivity of the process and how their viewing of a

program fits into the daily conduct of their lives" (p. 110). Therefore, audience

feedback through Internet can be seen as a dialogue that documents the

audiences' ongoing viewing activity and interpretation of television programs.

Meaning Construction of Gender

There is no doubt that male and female characters in mass media are

portrayed differently. Mass media has a significant impact on sex-role

13
 MSB

socialization and the construction of meaning related to gender. Clearly,

television overrepresents males. Males make up an even larger percentage of

television's work force than is proportional to the general population (Seggar,

1975).

The following studies have found a stereotypical gender portrait of

women. In an analysis of prime-time television portrayal of nurses and

physicians from 1950 to 1980, Kalisch and Kalisch (1984) reported extreme

levels of both sexual and occupational stereotyping. TV nurses were 99 per cent

female, TV physicians were 95 per cent male. In addition to sex-role stereotyping

in prime-time television programming, children's programs reinforce gender

stereotyping (Olsen, 1979).

Long and Simon's study (1974) of the roles women perform and the

statuses they occupy showed that children and family-oriented programs

portrayed women in comic roles or as wives and mothers, none worked outside

the home, and appearance was emphasized. They concluded that whether the

shows were produced in 1970, 1971, or 1972 the general image of women

continued to be one of tradition and sexism. Seggar's study (1975) also

explained that not only female characters were fewer than male characters but

also marriage and parenthood were more central to a woman's life. He

concluded that the range of occupational role imagery of women was both limited

and stereotypic.

14

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 ' .nMUKUKUHUkubfrVcm^-v..

Greenberg, Richards, and Henderson's study (1980) concluded that

women are significantly more likely to request support than are men and there

was a trend for support-givers to focus on that support on female recipients.

On the other hand, there are some studies related to the improved roles

and imagery of women. Lewis and Nerville's content analysis of magazine

advertising images of women during the World War II era (1995) showed that

women's images in the workplaces outside home had been increased from 5%

(1940) to 24% (1943). Clewell (1987) concluded that the use of women scientist

role models is a common technique used by a variety of intervention programs

designed to increase the number of girls and young women in science. Using

women scientist role models can reduce stereotyping of science that can lead to

misperceptions about the appropriateness of scientific careers for women.

The content analysis of Korean TV commercials conducted by Leung

(1995) reported that males were more often shown as having high-status

occupations such as professionals and workers, while the percentage of

depiction of women as parent, homemaker, and sex object continued to exceed

that of men. There had been several studies about the portrayals of males and

females of Korean drama in Korea during the 1980s. Most of the studies found

that women were presented in the home far more often than in the workplace

(Chung, 1997).

Unfortunately, few systematic efforts have been made to assess the

effectiveness of women's improved role models in reducing stereotypes, and few

15
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intervention programs have appeared in TV drama. Also, any study about the

roles and status of women in TV drama has not reported the evidence of the

improved social status of women significantly.

Criticism and Feedback

Traditionally, criticism is originated from the set of assumptions about

literature and the critical act that governed literary criticism in the West and

continues to condition what many people commonly accept "literature" and

"criticism" to be (Allen, 1992). Because television programs themselves share

some of characteristics of literary and theatrical artworks, television criticism and

traditional criticism have some of common ground.

However, there exist some differences between traditional literary criticism

and contemporary television criticism. Whereas traditional criticism emphasizes

the autonomy of the artwork and is more artist-centered, contemporary criticism

stresses the relationships between texts and the convention underlying specific

textual practice. As it foregrounds the contexts within which the productions of

cultural products occur, contemporary criticism views meaning as the product of

the engagement of a text by a reader or groups of readers (Allen, 1992).

In contemporary criticism, readers or audiences are more meaningful.

They play an important role not only as a part of context but also as a main body

of construction of meaning through perceiving and decoding cultural products.

Webster (1998) suggested that "rather than seeing people as acted upon by

16
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media, people be conceived of as free agents choosing what media they will

consume, bringing their own interpretive skills to the texts they encounter,

making their meanings, and generally using media to suit themselves" (p. 194).

As a pervasive and universal feature of modern life, television constantly

addresses, appeals, implores, urges and attempts to seduce the viewer. If

literature attempts to draw people out of their everyday worlds and into its make-

believe universes, television projects itself and its products into the everyday

world of viewers. Therefore, television criticism considers audience differently

than traditional criticism.

Considering that television responds to cultural and social conditions, the

study of television programs itself can be a meaningful way to read social and

cultural contexts. For example, a Korean history drama Dragon's Tears attracted

about 50 percent of television households in the latter half of its season.

Dragon's Tears described the struggle for political power between brothers in the

sixteenth century, Cfiosun Dynasty, while it matched the political situation of the

1997 Korean president election, and thus attracted people's interest {Donga

Daily newspaper, January 11, 1999, p. 13). In this case, then, television products

have to develop a close relationship with audiences' interest and social trends. In

short, television must have some social or cultural relevance to attract large

audiences.

For this reason, audience issues are becoming more important in cultural

studies and the media industry. Television is constantly required to find and

17
Hp.mi-L..i.i-.L..- uiijMxi m

define audiences' interest and relevance. Therefore, audience feedback can be a

precious information source in reading an audience. In Allen's essay (1992), he

called text reception "a meeting place" between television's discourse and

audience. Collins examined viewer letters from audiences to analyze a

nontraditional gender role model of Murphy Brown, recognizing that "viewer

letters are secondary texts that can be analyzed in relation to how they refer to

the primary program texts and represent a valuable resource for matching

audience interpretations to scholarly decoding of media messages" (p. 113).

On this view, audience feedback through the Internet can be an incredibly

rich resource for audience research. The interactive nature of computer net

discussion makes it possible to trace the process by which television meanings

are socially produced, circulated, and revised (Jenkins, 1994). Television

criticism is conceived as a self-conscious, social activity of an elite group of

professional journalists, columnists, and scholars (Newcomb, 1987). However,

this study tends to create a new concept that television criticism is not an

exclusive right of an elite group, but audience feedback itself can be television

criticism from unauthorized viewers. It assumes that audience feedback is more

meaningful not only as a rich resource of audience research but also as

television criticism itself.

18
 The Worlds of Broadcasting

Virtually all of the 200-plus countries around the world have their own

broadcasting systems. While there are many commonalities, each has its unique

features. The status of broadcasting systems varies in accordance with the

political, economic, and cultural environments in which they operate. However,

though installed in widely varying social settings and differing enormously in their

scope and complexity, they share the same electromagnetic spectrum. Also, a

powerful neighbor influences broadcasting in adjoining countries. Colonies

inherited the broadcasting structures and hardware of their former rulers.

Therefore, the broadcasting systems of the 200-plus countries can be

categorized into several groups according to their characteristics. There

generally are three elements which play important roles in deciding the status of

broadcasting systems: broadcasting policies, ownership patterns, and funding

sources.

Though each government has shaped its national broadcasting system in

keeping with its own history, the U.S., the British, and the Russian models have

mostly affected the broadcasting systems of other countries and represented

each group in classifying the world broadcasting systems.

In terms of broadcasting policy, the U.S. system might be called

"permissive." Permissiveness implies "voting with the dial"- consumer autonomy,

emphasizing what people want rather than what some may think they need. It

relies on market forces more than on government supervision to control the

19
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system. The British system might be called "paternalistic." Paternalism means

considering needs as well as wants and curbing market forces. It makes services

generally available, paid for equally by all consumers; not all programs pay their

way; the system is used impartially, exercising some control over what may give

offence, it encourages native writers and producers, prevents domination by

either government or advertisers, and regulates both the amount and the content

of advertising. Authoritarian broadcasting implies more insulation from both

consumer preferences and market forces, with arbitrary government regulation

exercised in the name of the people but with little concern for individual

preferences that do not coincide with official doctrines. In this view, the Russian

broadcasting model might be called authoritarian (Head, 1985).

These three widely imitated models for ownership of broadcasting

facilities emerged during the first seven years of the medium's existence. The

U.S. model left station ownership and operation open to free enterprise, the BBC

model awarded monopoly ownership and operational control of all stations in the

nation to a public corporation, insulated direct government intervention in day to

day operations, and the Russian model retained ownership and control within the

machinery of the government. Now that communism has fallen, the real media

power resides in the Russian State Television and Radio Company (RTR), a new

group formed in 1990 that has the backing of Boris Yeltzin. A number of

independent private organizations have started radio and TV services (Gross,

1997).

20
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The broadcasting systems around the world are supported in three

primary ways: through government subsidy, drawn from general tax revenues;

through license fees, paid for by the users of receivers; and through commercial

advertising. In general, the more authoritarian systems favor government

funding; paternalistic systems, license fees; and permissive systems, advertising

(Head, 1985).

The U.S. broadcasting relies mainly on advertising revenue. Originally, all

broadcasting licenses permitted commercial operation, but some stations with

educational or religious affiliations chose not to sell advertising. While in Britain

public services preceded alternative commercial services, in America commercial

services preceded alternative public broadcasting. BBC depends upon the

receiver license fee. The proceeds of the receiver license fee collections do not

automatically go to the BBC. Parliament must authorize both the levels of the

fees and their payment to the BBC. Nowadays, the BBC gets the license

revenue minus the costs of collection by the post office. Government ownership

usually means funding primarily from tax revenue. The USSR relied on tax

support as a matter of political philosophy. Though it had significant

disadvantages for the most effective use of broadcasting's potential benefits,

government subvention had the advantages of giving direct control to

governments whose political philosophies disposed them in that direction. For

the reason, the USSR discontinued collection of license fees in 1961 (Head,

1985).

21

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Table 4 shows each characteristic of three models of the U.S., the British,

and the Russian according to broadcasting policies, ownership patterns, and

funding sources.

Korean Broadcasting System

The Short History of Broadcasting in Korea

Korean broadcasting has come a long way since its meager beginning in

1927. Seoul Broadcasting Station, as a legal corporation, started February 16,

1927, with the call letters JODK and with Ikw of power. Because of an exorbitant

licensing fee, the majority of the sets were owned by the Japanese occupiers

(6,881 out of 8,204 in 1929) who basked in the sudden-found prosperity in their

colony. Korean and Japanese were used alternately as broadcast languages

until 1934. Even under the constant surveillance and censorship of the

Japanese, broadcasting did much to inspire local artists to express themselves in

such a way as to preserve Korean culture as distinct from Japanese (Lee, 1994).

During the Korean War, the American Forces Korean Network (AFKN),

inifially an extension of Far East Network in Japan, started radio broadcasts in

Seoul in September 1950. By 1958, AFKN had also developed a television

station. In 1956, Korea had its first television station when, with the aid of an

equipment contract with RCA, HLKZ-TV came on the air. A commercial setup

operating in Seoul, HLKZ-TV was sold to the president of a Korean newspaper

company in 1957, and the firm was renamed Dae-Han Broadcasting Company.

22
A fire in 1959 destroyed the station and it died. The government company,

Korean Broadcasting System, started KBS-TV in December 1961. By 1963, set

fees were levied to help make up the deficit the station incurred. Tong-Yang

Broadcasting (TBC) and Munwha Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) joined KBS in

TV operations in 1964 and 1969, respectively. The government-run KBS became

a public corporation in 1973 with the implementation of the Korean Broadcasting

System Law (Lee, 1994).

A dramatic rearrangement of the broadcasting companies in Korea took

place in December 1980, when the Korean Broadcasting Association adopted a

resolution to merge five commercial companies into the public network of KBS

under a government ruling to make broadcasting a publicly owned medium for

the nation. Two private TV networks, TBC and MBC, were put under the control

of the state. TBC was completely merged with KBS, and MBC was placed under

the substantial ownership of KBS (Richard and Oh, 1988).

In 1980, color TV broadcasting was introduced, and KBS and MBC

performed test-color TV broadcasting. The rate of programs for color TV

broadcasting increased rapidly, and KBS and MBC started the regular color TV

broadcasting on January 1, 1981 (Lee, 1994).

In the face of the massive and prolonged anti-government demonstrations

in June 1987, Roh Tae Woo, then chairman of the ruling party and president-

appointed, announced the Declaration of June 29, which promised political

reforms and the freedom of the press. This announcement became a watershed

23
w'WiwjB ff^^r. »• w " :'jm.-i -J. iPiiWMi.j •Ma: v»g^

in recent Korean history in terms of political liberalization. Various restrictions

have been abolished in favor of a free press. In 1990, Roh administration

allowed the private ownership of commercial TV. Seoul Broadcasting System

(SBS) was established in 1991 (Lee, 1994).

Through the Roh administration, which functioned as a bridge transferring

the power center from the military to the civilian sector, Korea was able to

establish a new civilian government in 1994 led by President Kim Young Sam,

the first non-military leader to be elected by the Korean people in more than four

decades. The Kim Young Sam administration contributed to the beginning of

cable TV and satellite broadcasting and the development of commercial local TV.

In 1997, Kim Dae Jung, the candidate of an opposition party, was elected

as a new president for the first time in Korean history. The Kim Dae Jung

government is seeking the deregulation of broadcasting industry and achieving

the true freedom of the press.

The Broadcasting under Military Regime (1960-1987)

Each country has shaped its national broadcasting system in keeping with

its own political, economic, and cultural conditions. Given the fact that mass

media can be used as an important tool for political propaganda, the political

nature might be the most powerful element in shaping the national broadcasting.

According to Siebert (1952), the press in a socio-politically troubled society like

24
Korea typically operates under direct government controls on the pretext of

building social stability.

The Korean Broadcasting system is no exception to this rule. It is true that

the political power in Korea has held sway over the destinies of its broadcasting

system. Korean media were totally under the control of the government under a

military regime until 1987 and, moreover, went through the process of imposed

restructuring to meet developmental, governmental, and political goals of

authoritarian rule. Korean media has been criticized as not being a watchdog of

the government (Lee, 1999).

Under the Park government in the 1960s and 1970s, the Korean

broadcasting system was a dual system in which private and public stations co-

existed. However, the policies of the Park government severely controlled and

regulated the Korean press because a free media could threaten national

stability and integration (Lee, 1994).

Right after General Chun Doo-Whan seized power by military coup in May

1980, he enforced a sweeping reorganization of the mass media, so-called

"purification campaign" on the press. After the reorganization of the press, the

Korean media had to undergo direct and indirect censorship by the government.

The Chun government (1980-1987) enacted the Basic Press Act in December

1980. known as "one of the most restrictive and comprehensive laws" In

capitalistic societies (Lee, 1999). The media had no choice but to follow the

government's instruction and order, "drumming up the achievement of the

25
\^Z1

government, encouraging people towards the economic plan and other

government policies, promoting political leaders, and concealing corruption or

failure of its policies" (Lee, 1999, p. 12).

In the process of the sweeping reorganization of mass media in

December 1980, the Korean Broadcasting Association adopted a resolution to

merge five commercial companies into the publicly owned medium for the nation.

As of September 1985, there were two TV networks (KBS and MBC), and three

radio networks (KBS, MBC, and CBS) in Korea. Under the reorganization, the

commercial television network, TBC, was taken over by the then public

corporation, KBS. The commercial network, MBC, was turned into an

organization of a public nature when KBS became MBC's largest shareholder

(Lee, 1994).

Despite the constitutional warrant, the Park and the Chun governments

often controlled the Korean press with a host of press-related laws, including the

Criminal Act, the National Security Act, Anti-Communist Act, and the Basic Press

Act. Moreover, the political actors and press owners have heavily suppressed

the Korean press. Thus during the last three decades, the fundamental freedom

in Korea was often violated by these forces (Lee, 1999). For these reasons, as

Table 5 shows, the Korean Broadcasting system was called an authoritarian

broadcasting system, even though the Korean media systems applied the dual

systems (public and private) under the Park government and the totally public

system under the Chun government in name.

26

\—-
 iJ. ' i l ' T m ^ - / ! - ^

The Broadcasting under Non-Military Regime (since 1987)

Because the Korean media had not acted as a watchdog of the

government during the military regime from 1960 to 1987, the Korean people

distrusted the media and openly expressed various forms of resentment against

the media. A representative example is a voluntary audience movement from

1986 through 1987 "not to watch and not to pay the mandatory monthly viewing

fee" to Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), a national public television network,

which gets half of its budget from the viewing fee. It lost about 30 percent of its

total revenue (Lee, 1996, p. 86).

Also, the sweeping democratization that began at the end of 1987

resulted in the political reform and the change of media environments. In the

wake of the collapse of the military regime in 1987, Korea has been experiencing

an unprecedented transition from an authoritarian to a democratic society.

In 1987, Roh Tae-Woo, the presidential candidate of the ruling party,

announced the Declaration of June 29: "the government can not control the

press nor should it attempt to do so. No restriction should be imposed on the

press except when national security is at risk" (Lee, 1999, p. 12). The

Declaration of June 29 became a watershed of recent Korean history in terms of

not only political liberalization but also the press freedom in Korea. Since the

announcement, there has been a remarkable relaxation of governmental controls

on the press in comparison with the situation in the past.

27
 lyil^piimn ,mmA.

• •lll-iilMU,

As a result of the political reforms, censorship on the Korean press has

virtually been abandoned, and the press expanded the scope of its news

coverage, ending some formal and informal controls on the press that had lasted

several years. The Korean press has been enjoying its golden age. In December

1988, the 70 percent of MBC's share, which KBS possessed, was transferred to

the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Committee, and MBC was separated from

KBS and government's direct control. Also, the Roh Tae-Woo government

allowed the formation of the commercial TV station (SBS) in 1990. The

justification for licensing the commercial station was; first, meeting the frequency

requirement in an information society; second, providing wider choices of

channels to audiences; third, solving problems of advertising congestion; and

four, responding to the trend of privatization in the world broadcasting (Lee,

1994).

SBS was established in 1991 and had access to Seoul and Kyungki

province. Since signing the basic agreement with four local private broadcasting

companies of Pusan, Taegu, Kwang-ju, and Taejeon, SBS has established a

national broadcasting network. Contrary to the predictions of experts, SBS has

been evaluated successful in the competition of ratings with the two existing

public TV networks, KBS and MBC (Table 6). SBS produced many provocative,

sensational, and entertainment-oriented programs which KBS and MBC had

been hesitant to air in the conservative Korean society. SBS's programming

strategies, oriented toward high ratings, can be compared to commercial TV in

28
I7E

the U.S. SBS's strategies prompted the two public networks (KBS and MBC) to

also produce programs intended to generate high ratings (Lee, 1994).

The Korean broadcasting system in the 1990s outwardly is similar to the

British system. However, there is a major difference between the British system

and the Korean system. The public TV network, KBS, has been operated by the

mandatory monthly viewing fee and advertising, and another public TV network,

MBC, has depended upon purely advertising revenues. Also, the high level of

competition among the three major networks confused the distinction between

public TV and commercial TV in regard to the programs' content. Also, while the

paternalistic BBC encourages native writers and producers, the two Korean

public TV networks, KBS and MBC, tend to consider audience's taste more

important than native writers and producers. The Korean broadcasting system

reflects the trend of commercialization in the political reform, keeping the dual

system (public and private) (Table 7). For these reasons, it is not easy to define

the Korean broadcasting system as absolutely public.

Even though Korea is a democratic nation and embraces the free market

system, the Korean broadcasting system had kept the characteristics of

authoritarianism under military regime. In the 1990s, it has kept the dual systems

(public and commercial). However, regardless of whether the Korean

broadcasting system is commercial, public or authoritarian, many experts and

scholars in Korea agree that sensational and lascivious programs have a

29
demoralizing influence upon Korean society. The following article is

representative of their worries.

Recent TV program quality is so dismal that people greatly

concerned over the three major TV stations' change of programs
that occurs every fall. The continuing deterioration of programming
can only damage our country, so we hope this time stations can
wisely create healthy programs that will open the age of the 21st
century.
What is most urgent is to change the atmosphere or basic
framework of the programs from eating, drinking, singing, and
noise making to feeling, thinking, and learning. The biggest
problem with Korean TV is an over emphasis on simple
entertainment to raise viewer ratings which ultimately result in low
grade commercialism.
This time, the entertainment programs should be halved in
order to renew the atmosphere of broadcasting. Secondly, the
number of dramas must be reduced and their quality raised. It is
deplorable that the drams are filled with violence, sex, and
language, and sensationalism all in order to raise viewer ratings.
Thirdly, the number of entertainers that appear on TV should be
reduced by half and be replaced with ordinary people. There are
simply too many entertainers appealing on dramas and comedies,
not to mention talk shows and even educational programs.
We should balance them out by increasing shows about
ordinary life. We need programs such as high quality truth seeking
documentaries, culture, and arts programs that will broaden our
minds and encourage spiritual advancement, news programs that
deal with current topics like the greenhouse effect or the Internet,
and programs with variety that encourages our youths who will
have to lead in the age of globalization.
Therefore, the success of the fall season premiers demands
on how much public KBS, a channel in which we must pay for, can
reduce its viewer ratings. If it is a station that cares about its
viewers, it will sacrifice viewer rating percentages in favor of quality
programs that improve the spiritual health. We hope that TV
stations will get rid of their noisy bubble shows and produce ones
that are close to our life.

{Digital Chosun, October 9, 1997, www.chosun.com)

30
 TV content in Korea is less sensational or sex-oriented than programs in

western countries. However, TV content in Korea today is getting more oriented

toward high ratings than in the past. Outwardly, Korean broadcasting is

dedicated to broadcasting for the good of the people. However, Korean

broadcasting meets a difficult problem to set its clear direction between

broadcasting for the good of the people and broadcasting strictly for high ratings.

In a democratic nation which warrants the free competition among broadcasting

industry and the freedom of expression, high ratings of programs have important

meanings in operating television networks. However, some people worry that

broadcasting in Korea may lose its original functions as broadcasting for the

good of the people in this trend. Today's situation of Korean broadcasting is a

result caused by the rapid change of society and media environment in the wake

of the political reform in the late 1980s.

Media Context and Audience in Korea

The democratization movement in the late 1980s, liberalization of the

economy, and the increased economic power and diversified interests of

consumers have all brought greater diversity of media in Korea, ranging from

foreign-owned and operated magazines to satellite television. Between 1987 and

1990, the number of the print media outlets doubled and the number of weekly

newspapers increased about five fold. Also, broadcast media outlets are

increasing in number. Since the SBS, a private broadcast network, opened in

.u^iip"jfifii^ . •• - w * / . Ta

December 1991, satellite television from Japan and Hong Kong emerged as a

new media channel. Also, in the 1990s, satellite and cable television services

started (Kim, 1996).

The rapid increase of media outlets and the economic growth in Korea

resulted in the rapid growth of advertising expenditures. Korea is by far the

second largest Asian advertising market after Japan. Korean advertising

expenditures amounted to around US$ 5 billion in 1996. Advertising

expenditures more than doubled between 1987 and 1996 (Global Adspend

Trends-Asia, 1998).

Today, Korea has extensive and well-developed media. Radio, and in

recent years television, reached virtually every resident. By 1994 there were

approximately 45 million radio receivers in use. As television sets, now mass-

produced in Korea, became far less expensive, ownership of television sets grew

from 7.7 million sets in 1985 to an estimated 14.5 million sets in 1994 (Table 8).

The result of the spread of television sets and radios was the dissemination of a

homogenized popular culture and the impingement of urban values on rural

communities. Broadcasting in Korea occupies the most important place in the

process of information acquisition. In the social statistic survey of 1997, 76.9% of

the respondents considered broadcasting as the most important tool (Table 1). It

means that broadcasting is an important social force of socialization in Korea.

Another important fact is that the numbers of personal computers sets and

personal computer communication service subscribers are rapidly increasing.

32
 •T**?.

The number of computer sets in Korea increased from 0.45 million (10.4 sets per

1,000 persons) in 1989 to 1.8 million (41.0 sets per 1,000 persons), and the

number of the PC communication service subscribers increased from 16,000 in

1989 to 3.4 million in 1996 (Table 9).

This situation in Korea and the rapid development of the new information

technologies provide people with good access to information and more chances

to communicate their opinions with other individuals and groups. Three major

television networks in Korea use their own Internet home pages to get audience

information and responses. Therefore, the new information technologies like the

Internet have played an important role as a bridge in changing the concept of

television from the one way to interactive medium.

As Bell (1974) predicted, "the new information technologies would raise

standards of living and reduce inequalities across the globe" (p.114). Many

feminist critics in Korea assert that because technology is socially and culturally

constructed as male practice carried out in male dominated institutions, it is

inevitable that the use of technological resources is imbued with male-centered

values and women do not have the same access to technology as men.

However, compared with the past, as the new information technologies are

available, the communication environment for women in Korea has been

improved, and the improved social status of women has made it possible for

them to express their opinions openly in the male-centered Korean society.

33
 • V-:.1 :-^ -Ji- •«:: bi^b^'LAicrWfi'.''*' ..-i^^ja^f:

With the rapid modernization of Korea, the Korean society is still

changing. Also, it is true that television contributes to the modernization of

people's minds, values, and lives across the country. Moreover, analyzing

audience's feedback through Internet can be a good chance to read the trend of

the changing Korean society.

34
 •^^

Table 4

The Broadcasting Systems of the U.S., British, and Russia

Prime Broadcasting Policy Ownership Funding

Example

US Permissive Private Commercial

Advertising

British Paternalistic Pubic Corporation User Fees

Russia Authoritarian Government General

Taxation

Table 5

The Korean Broadcasting System under the Park and Chun Military Regime

Broadcasting Ownership Funding

Policy

Under the Park Authoritarian Private & Public User fee &
Government Advertising

Under the Chun Authoritarian Public User fee &

Government Advertising

35
17L wmmmm

Table 6

Ratings and Shares among Three Korean TV Networks for the First Half of 1998

Networks Rating Share

KBS1 TV 12.4 27%

KBS 2 TV 10.6 23%

MBC 11.8 26%

SBS 10.4 23%

Source of Information: MBC (Munwha Broadcasting Corporation)'s Internet

homepages (www.mbc.co.kr)

Table 7

Three TV Networks' Characteristics in Korea in the 1990s

Network Broadcasting Policy Ownership Funding

KBS Paternalistic Public User Fee & Advertising

MBC Paternalistic & Public Advertising

Permissive

SBS Relatively Permissive Private Advertising

36

ttm0k'
 Table 8

The Numbers of Television Sets and Radio Receivers in Korea

(Number, (per 1000 inhabitants))

1980 1985 1990 1994

T V Sets 6,300,000 7,721,000 9,000,000 14,408,000

(165) (189) (210) (323)

Radio 20,000,000 38,605,000 43,350,000 45,300,000

Receivers (525) (946) (1011) (1017)

Source of Information: Statistical Yearbook, Forty-Second Issue (United Nation,

1997)
e,-M

37
 Table 9

Computer Ownership per 1,000 Persons and PC Communication Service

Subscribers

Year Computers Per 1,000 Person PC Communication

Service Subscribers

1989 440,000 10.4 16,016

1990 685,000 16.0 54.357

1991 758,000 17.5 159,353

1992 911,000 20.8 323,248 •M

1993 1,294,000 29.3 435,191

1994 1,532,000 34.3 578,344

1995 1,654,000 36.7 1,906,182

1996 1,866,000 41.0 3,368,974

Source: Ministry of Information & Communication, (Statistical Yearbook of

Information & Communication)

38
 CHAPTER
RESEARCH QUESTION AND METHODOLOGY

Research Question

See and See was a top-rated program that brought hot issues to

audiences regarding conflicts between traditional values and new trends in

modern Korean society. The first research question focuses on the analysis of

the televisual texts which dealt with these conflicts.

RQ 1: How does the drama See and See deal with the conflict
between traditional values and new trends in modern Korea?

The second research question deals with the interpretation of the

audience responses. Audience members have their own standards of

interpretation based on their own backgrounds. However, both traditional values

and new trends of modern Korea may be important elements affecting their

standards. Although quick review of the feedback revealed much diversity of

opinions, most thematic messages are based on either traditional values or

emerging ideas.

RQ 2: How do various audience members interpret the drama See

and See?

39
M iipiMiiijiw^ii I I .msn-f wjwwii^^ 'm^K---

«*/

Korean broadcasting has developed according to its specific political,

economic, and cultural environments. Especially, the traditional values based on

Confucianism have affected the identity of Korean media. It is true that TV

programs in Korea are more conservative than in western countries. However,

new trends in Korea also influence TV programs. Therefore, broadcasting in

Korea is involved in mediating conflicts between traditional values and new

trends. Some audience members through their feedback express concerns over

whether some content in See and See is appropriate on Korean TV. Their

opinions are divided into two categories: traditional and reformist. Therefore, the

third research question focuses on the cultural orientation of Korean TV

broadcasfing through audiences' evaluations of the drama See and See.

RQ3: How does Internet feedback for See and See comment on
changes in the Korean broadcasting system?

Methodology

The primary objective of this research is to delineate variation in audience

decoding of a Korean television program, specifically See and See. While not

displaying the strict limitation of survey research, this open-ended approach to

audience feedback allows the viewers to express their autonomous concerns

about TV programming. Audience feedback on the Internet represents

unsolicited commentaries on program content, characters, and messages.

40
Therefore, they do not have statistical significance, nor are they a random

sample.

A certain segment of audiences write to comment on the program, and

they selectively report their interpretations about specific program content.

Although this study makes no claims of statistical representation, some of

opinions are divided into two categories: responses based on traditional values

and responses supporting newly emerging trends. This study also reviews

articles in major Korean newspapers and books related to the drama See and

See. The articles and books provide the cultural and social background of this

study.

Another purpose of the study is to explain the cultural contexts of Korean

television programs. The processes of producing some specific TV programs or

televisual texts have a close relationship with the cultural and social

environments of the TV broadcasting industry in Korea. Therefore, in linking the

contexts of TV broadcasting in Korea with the processes of producing and

decoding texts, this study tends to show the peculiar cultural conflicts in modern

Korea. This part of the study will mostly depend upon literature review.

Collecting Feedback Items

The available data set for this research is about twelve thousand

commentaries sent to the drama through its TV network's Internet homepage

(WWW.mbc.co.kr). Among them, this study analyzed audience responses about

41
 "WP"^""^^

marital decisions, kinship, married life, and evaluation of the drama. Collecting

audience responses needed for the reception study was based on the themes of

feedback items. This study used the search programs of the drama's homepage,

using key words "kyulhorn" (marriage), "salang" (love), "gyepsadon" (the double

relative by marriage), "serngchabyul" (gender inequality), "eully" (ethic), and

"drama."

These key words had no relationship with categories of this study but

were used for collecting feedback items related with the topics of this reception

study because some responses were not matched with their own themes. For

example, although a response's theme includes the word "marriage," it may be

primarily concerned with "the double relative by marriage." Therefore, the

feedback items selected with these six key words were categorized into four

topics after briefly reviewed: (1) marriages, (2) the double relative by marriages,

(3) complication between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and (4) evaluation

of drama. Some of commentaries which were not relevant to this study were

discarded. The sorted responses of each category were again divided into two

sub-categories: traditional view and modern view.

42
 f^VP, •.•,---,j-r.

CHAPTER IV

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND RECEPTION STUDY

See and See

See and See is a drama which was broadcast on MBC (Munwha

Broadcasting Corporation) every weekday from March 3, 1998, to April 2, 1999.

It recorded the highest rating for a drama in Korean media history. The reasons

for its success are found not only in the excellent actors and actresses but also

in its compelling story of the marriages of two brothers and two sisters. What

follows is a description of See and See (Table 10).

One of the central characters, Eunju, is a nurse and is faithful to her

duties. One day, she happens to meet Kijung, a promising lawyer who makes an

impression on Eunju. After they meet several times, they fall in love. However,

Kijung's mother does not want Kijung to marry Eunju and introduces Kijung to

Sungmi, a doctor, whose family is wealthy.

Kipung, Kijung's younger brother, is the dance director at a broadcasting

station. He meets Kumju, Eunju's elder sister who is a drama writer at the station

and a graduate school student. Kipung begins to fall in love with Kumju.

However, Kumju's parents do not want their daughter to get married to a dancer.

But, after some struggle, Kipung gains Kumju's parents' approval to marry

Kumju.

43
 i.^.J!.--=—»>:

At this point, the two couples do not know that their fiancees are from the

same family. Traditionally, being doubly related by married is not allowed in

Korean society. Kipung's grandmother does not condone that kind of

relationship. After some struggle, they gain their parents' and grandmother's

approval to marry their fiancees.

After they marry, the newly wed couples live with the brothers' father,

mother, and grandmother. Kijung's mother is not satisfied with Eunju's behavior,

but she likes Kumju, even though Eunju is better than Kumju at housekeeping.

However, other family members, especially Kijung's grandmother, favor Eunju.

While the grandmother has never praised the mother in three decades, she does

praise Eunju everyday. So, the mother feels bitter about the grandmother's

heartlessness to her. Eunju seeks more praise from the grandmother than from

the mother.

Because of this conflict, the mother thinks that she has lost her role in the

family. This causes further complications between the mother and Eunju. At the

end of the drama, Eunju gives birth to Kijung's son and Kumju to Kipung's

daughter on the same day. Kijung's mother is reconciled with Eunju because of

the grandson, and See and See concludes with a happy ending.

Because of the popularity of See and See, audiences submitted about

twelve thousand responses to MBC's Internet homepage. However, even though

they watched the same drama, audiences presented a range of different

opinions about the drama. See and See triggered many hot debates. The main

44
 iBP!P^i"^rjwpi^^ '»'• 1 ' " ^^'^^m^ «I, «• , i w ^ ^ " " ^ p p " » ^
L9C ^wwwiiy

issues of the debates were: (1) the inequality of men and women; (2)

strangeness of marriages between two brothers and two sisters; (3) the

program's strategy for achieving high ratings.

Because Korean society considers "broadcasting for the good of the

audience" important, the excessive commercialization of such popular programs

has been condemned by both audiences and critics. The drama See and See

was criticized for being oriented only toward generating large audiences through

provocative and unusual topics. The following article from a daily newspaper is

representative of this criticism.

In the drama See and See, two sisters from one family
married two brothers from another family, and the younger brother
of the sisters starts to feel love with Sungmi, a love rival of Eunju. If
they marry in the dramatic development, it may establish a rare and
unusual relationship which causes conflicts and agonies in our
family and society. The stronger exciter TV uses as a topic, the
more audiences are induced into its excitement rather than their
reality and basic values.
On 29, December 1998, three TV networks declared "the
reinforcement of TV's public functions." However, although there
are many television programs to enhance public functions, if
programs on the prime time deal with a rarely abnormal situation
like See and See, their declaration would be unreliable words.

( Donga Daily newspaper, December 31, 1998, p. 18)

Textual Analysis

Basically, the drama See and See reflects the changing trends in

conservative Korean society. The drama includes material that upholds

traditional values and, at the same time, embraces the emerging values of

45
Ink lOsxfWBsB^^sot
T^*isis=!aemi!lam Sw?!v!v^^

modern society. In other words. See and See is a complicated text that deals

dramatically with two conflicting value systems.

Representing Traditional Values

Marriage. In Korean language, there are three words to express

'marriage': Kyulhorn, Jangga, and Sijip. Kyulhorn means marriage itself. Jangga

expresses that a bridegroom goes to the bride's house for the wedding

ceremony. Sijip which means the bridegroom's house is a symbol of marriage for

women, traditionally used as the domicile of the new couple. For the bride's

family, then, marriage is sending a daughter off to the bridegroom's house.

Tradifionally, if a daughter gets married, she is no longer a member of her

biological family on a legal basis, but is a new member of her husband's family. It

may be similar to the American custom of changing her last name upon being

married.

In See and See, the main story focuses on the marriages of two couples.

From the traditional view of marriage in Korea, marriage means the relationship

not only between a man and woman but also two families. Therefore, marriage

involves a number of factors like economic status, social position, and

educational level. Many parents in Korea believe that when the socio-economic

gap between two families is narrow, the life of the marriage will be happy.

See and See acknowledges this traditional view of marriage. For

example, the law profession is a symbol of high social position in Korea, but
 i',r"immhi.^ ^ ^ ^

nursing is considered a middle-class occupation. Kijung's mother wants him to

marry someone who is equal to his success. For the same reason, Kumju's

parents do not want her to marry Kipung. Throughout Korean history,

occupations like dancer, singer, and artist have been associated with the lower

class.

While status issues are important, the most debated issue in the drama is

the relationships caused by two marriages between brothers from one family and

sisters from another family. Even though Korean society has changed, this

relationship is not easy for many to accept. Korean customs do not allow a

relative doubly related by marriage. One audience member sent this cynical

opinion to MBC's Internet homepage which criticized the relationship.

Thanks a lot. See and See taught the importance of love to

me. If my elder brother marries a woman and I marry her mother, I
can be the father-in-law of my elder brother. That is the power of
love. Thanks.

As mentioned in this response, the custom which does not allow the

relative doubly related by marriage is maintained as a valuable rule to preserve

family integrity in Korea. It is a main reason that the grandmother does not

condone their marriages. Although they gain the approval to marry, the

processes of reaching their marriages in the drama are generally based on

traditional views of marriage.

47
IfC Oiri'iMJiiirii'i'' \MmB^

The Meaning of Being a Son in Korea. Another example which reflects the

traditional values of family in Korea is the symbolic meaning of the son.

Traditionally, the son has a significant meaning in Korea because the son

remains in his family even after marriage. The most important thing which

married women have to do is to have a son who perpetuates the family. If a

married woman does not have a son, she is considered a failure. The principles

of Confucianism valuing sons still exist in modern Korean society and have

resulted in Korean society remaining male-centered.

It is important, then, that Eunju gives birth to a son. The grandson acts as

a bridge to resolve her conflicts with her mother-in-law. In other words, bearing a

son is a means of redemption for Eunju. If Eunju had a daughter instead, the

drama would not conclude on a happy note. Despite exploring provocative topics

and challenging many traditional values, the drama ultimately endorses the

male-centered values of the traditional Korean family. However, this traditional

custom preferring son rather than daughter causes a hot issue of sex

discrimination in modern Korean society. The following response from one

audience member represents the critical voices from women.

The drama discriminates against women. In this drama,

bearing a son acts as a bridge to solve the conflicts between Eunju
and her mother-in-law. Although the mother-in-law is also a
woman, she prefers a son rather than daughter. Also, is bearing a
son the only way to resolve their conflicts in drama? I do not think
so. Today toward 21 century, the fact that the most popular drama.
See and See, discriminates against women is extremely
deplorable.

48
 jimii'i IIIIIIII I II

The Complication between Mother-in-law and Daughter-in-law. Obviously,

the traditional marriage in Korea places women in subordinate positions. This is

evident in the old Korean saying, a deaf for three and a dumb bride for the next

three years. The old proverb means a newlywed bride should take a follower's

role in her husband's family. Even though a bride might have a complaint, she

does not have the status to express her opinion. When the husband's parents,

especially the mother-in-law, gives harsh advice, she is expected to obey.

Therefore, the relationship of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is often

compared to that of water and oil. As the saying expresses, the bride's life for

three years and the next three with her husband's family is likened to being deaf

and dumb.

Today, many old-fashioned customs forcing women to be subordinate in

the family and society have appeared to change. Even so, gender inequality still

exists in the male-centered Korean society. See and See includes some action

which addresses the age-old rivalry between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law

in the conflicts between Kijung's grandmother and his mother and between his

mother and Eunju. While the conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-

law might not be regarded as traditional values, they still result from the male-

centered family system. Clearly, the complications in this drama deal with

common experiences in the traditional Korean family.

49
Televisual Texts Based on the Newly Emerging Values

Marriage. The modernization of Korean society has changed the lifestyles

of people from the extended family to the nuclear family. The average number of

household members decreased from 5.0 in 1975 to 3.3 in 1995. At the same

time, households which consist of three generations decreased from 20.1% in

1975 to 11.4% in 1995. These trends indicate a change in the concept of

marriage in the modern Korean society. In choosing a marriage partner, the

decision of the romantic couples has become more important than the wishes of

his or her family compared with the past. In modern Korean society, some

people think that love is the key to solving all problems. Therefore, they argue

that if both the man and woman love each other, no other conditions are needed

to marry.

In See and See, both couples got married despite parental objections

based on status differences and occupational prejudice. This outcome reflects

marital trends in modern Korea. Also, the unusual kinship caused by two

brothers marrying two sisters, which is not traditionally accepted in Korea, is

challenging long-held Korean values. The depiction of these marriages in the

drama means that the love and the will of the courting couples are the most

important elements in the marriage decision.

The Privileges of the Father in the Family. For males in traditional Korean

society, the most important principle of Confucianism is filial piety which governs

the father-son relationship. Under Confucianism, the father occupied the top
 msas.i mmmMW^rmwmn 9!^
I iiMII IIIII I .-—~-

place in both family and society. For a long time, males enjoyed their privileges

in traditional society. Although males were central figures in all aspects of social

life in the past, this dominance is changing today. Today, many traditionalists

believe that men have lost their positions in the modern family because they

have no time to fulfill their roles as husbands and fathers.

The families' backgrounds shown in See and See also speak to this

situation. Sungmi, who Kijung's mother wants Kijung to marry, grew up in a rich

family because her father is a successful businessman. In the drama, SungmPs

father holds absolute authority, and her mother takes a passive and subordinate

position in the family. On the other hand, Eunju's mother, more than her father,

contributes largely to the household economy. Therefore, her mother is active

and less subordinate in making decisions regarding family affairs.

Whether wealthy or not, male privilege enjoyed in traditional society has

changed or even disappeared. Economic status within the household is

becoming a more important element determining male power in the modern

family. Clearly, the rapid modernization of Korean society has altered traditional

family values. See and See reflects these changes in the family in modern

Korea.

The Characters. In the drama, some characters embody these trends in

modern Korea. Eunju is described as a young woman who is active and

independent. Eunju's mother is the model of a married, working woman in

modern Korea. These two characters reflect not only the reality of women's

51
 ••BafHa

participation in the working force but also represent familiar characteristics of

modern Korean women who are active in demanding their proper treatment.

Although the two characters are not widely recognized and celebrated as

improvements in the mediated images of women, they are considerably more

independent than the stereotype of Korean women in the past.

Another character showing new gender trends in Korean society is

Kipung. His occupation as a dance director goes against the traditional view of

an honorable male occupation. The acceptance of Kipung's character indicates

that prejudice against some occupations based on Confucianism is fading in

modern society.

To summarize. See and See is a family drama which addresses important

trends in modern Korean society. Although upholding many traditional family

values, See and See gives representation to new developments in modern

cultural values. Despite the long history of the traditional Korean customs based

on Confucianism, many old rules and values have disappeared. At the same

time, amid the modernization, some customs are still needed to preserve Korea's

unique culture. The popularity of See and See, then, is caught up in the way it

negotiates traditional values and modern ideas.

 F^»^^W^^?W^W»^^»"^^—"B^^*

IJE sua

Reception Study

A total of 11,801 responses were sent to See and See between March

1998 and April 1999. The average number of responses per episode is about 43

(Table 11). The duration which encompasses See and See Is divided into four

periods: (1) March-June, 1998, (2) July-September, 1998, (3) October-

December, 1998, and (4) January-April, 1999. The feedback rate of each period

shows significant differences. The concluding episodes of See and See collected

the most responses (6,215 feedback items) from audience members, and the

next highest number of responses (2,727 feedback items) were submitted during

July-September, 1998 (Table 12).

What the differences suggest is that the rate of feedback has a close

relationship to See and See's dramatic development. During July-September,

1998, the content of See and See focused on the marriages of two couples as

the first set of dramatic conflicts in the drama. The drama dealt with the

entanglements of married life caused by the contentious relationship between

mother-in-law and daughter-in-law as the second set of dramatic conflicts in the

last part of See and See. The provocative nature of these conflicts seem to be

the key reason that the rate of feedback increased significantly in these two

periods.

To analyze the mean number of feedback items sent by each audience

member, 300 feedback items were selected from the beginning of each period.

As a result, a total 845 audience members sent 1.42 messages (Table 13).
 mmmmzwM^

Ultimately, this study analyzed audience responses about the conflicts

between traditional values and new emerging values. For a wide range of

different opinions, some feedback items were selected according to topics. This

study identified thematic responses through the search program of the drama's

homepage, using key words, "Kyulhorn" (marriage), "salang" (love), "gyepsadon"

(the double relative by marriage), "serngchabyul" (gender inequality), "eully

(ethic), and "drama," These key words generated responses that were then

reorganized into the following categories: (1) marriage, (2) the double relative by

marriages, (3) complication between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, (4)

evaluation of the drama (Table 14).

At the outset it should be noted that the analysis was based on some

selected responses, not an analysis of the all responses. Thus, the study could

not investigate the full range of audience feedback. Also, the numbers of the

messages grouped into each category are meant to show gross trends in

audience feedback, but not a rigorous statistical analysis.

Audience members tend to interpret televisual texts according to their own

value systems. Consequently, there may be many differences in interpreting a

television drama. A review of audience responses sent to See and See

demonstrates a range of different interpretations. This range can be divided into

two broad categories: interpretations based on traditional values and

interpretations supporting modern values.

54

iiij-ji-Bu^ixaeg• 9 B * ^
 rr,^iWWMmmim\i "--

Marriage

The topic of marriage provides a significant example of these two

contrasting interpretation positions. For the analysis of the view of "marriage," a

total of 370 responses were analyzed, 227 responses from the category

"marriage" and 143 responses from the category "the double relative." Audience

responses concerned solely with the view of marriage itself tended to support

modern values like "romantic love" over "familial approval" (Table 14).

On the other hand, the trends in audience responses to the double

relative issue show a different result. Sixty eight percent of a total of 143

feedback items disagree with permitting this unusual relationship (Table 14).

These opinions emphasized the importance of order and traditional values in the

family rather than love and the decisions of the romantic couple. These two

different results demonstrate that although the trends of marriage have changed

in the Korean society, many people still have a rather conservative view on the

double relative issue that challenges traditional family values. Consider the

following comments from audience members.

The Traditional View:

1. I think that a clear line has to be drawn between love and

marriage. While love may be one of human basic instincts,
marriage is an order and a rule in our society and family. Society
without basic orders and ethics may give up being human society.
Therefore, the relative doubly related by marriages should not be
allowed for the orders and rules of our society.

2. Marriage involves a lot of problems of reality. Especially,

marriage symbolizes the relationship between two families in the
Korean society. Although they really love, there are many problems
55

ra-«s»«Banii*W tf«.'tf|>mitu'.wa—xa;
 r.ii.i

that cannot be solved. For example, a relative doubly related by

marriage should not be allowed. Even though it is not wrong on the
basis of the law, I, as a mother who have my children, cannot think
of that kind of relationship. If two couples come to the marriage, the
value of ethics will disappear. That kind of the story may make the
new generation lose the power of self-control and the ability to
decide the right and the wrong.

I agree that the most important thing of marriage is marital

couple's love and confidence. However, their love needs to be
moderate sometimes. For example, even though a man really loves
his sister, they cannot marry. Marriage beyond our rules and orders
in family and society is not a result of beautiful love but a result of
dissoluteness.

The Modern View:

Should the best wife have a high social position? See and
See describes that the best wife for man should have high social
position. It considers women to be men's ornament. It really makes
me angry.

The key of marriage is love, so I really cannot understand

why their parents are against their marriage. If their love is true,
they can solve all problems.

I do not understand why the double relatives are not

allowed. It does not have any problem on the basis of law. It is not
appropriate in modern society that their marriages are not allowed
for the old customs,

I give kudos to their love. They did the best for their love.
The conclusion of their love is beautiful.

From the traditional view, some audiences insist upon the importance of

the long held values. The depiction of these unusual marriages is interpreted as

representing "disappearing ethics or orders of society" or "an inappropriate thing"

56
 •• -'• -ytm iMUiiM 8BHPBBBWW niiiftfciin '»

in the Korean society. On the other hand, many audience members interpret it

as "a beautiful conclusion of true love."

Married Life

Married life in the drama is another cultural issue that triggered different

interpretations among audience members. To analyze the gender politics of

married life, a total of 69 feedback items were collected from the set of 11,801

responses. The result shows that 42 responses (61%) support the modern view

of married life (Table 14). Although opinions based on the modern view of

married life outnumber the traditional view, the difference between two views is

quite significant. For example, consider how the conflicts between mother-in-law k

and daughter-in-law were interpreted by different audience members:

The Modern View:

1. Kijung's mother's reactions are excessively biased. She is

doing a fine job of both housekeeping and working. Nevertheless,
because of the mother-in-law's selfish mind, she bothers Eunju. It is
not right. Also, although the role of woman in society is improved,
this drama shows that the standard to evaluate women is how to
keep house. This idea is antique, and women' role should be
treated as improved positions in family and society. Korean society
considers woman as a housekeeper. It must be changed. Kijung's
mother! Stop bothering Eunju\ Eunju cheer up!

2. Someone says that woman's enemy is woman. In the

drama, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law
is rivalry. I can not understand why woman's enemy is woman. I
hope that the relationships between women, especially between
mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, are described more productively
in the drama.

57
'' '-"-^ ZJ*L!!iiH!aiaiimiMIM

Eunju who does her best in her family and work place is a
good model to us. She has to be treated properly as much as her
ability in family. Eunju should be evaluated by the equal standards
to evaluate married women in modern society rather than on
traditional customs.
Is Eunju a superwoman? See and See indicates that the
best daughter-in-law has to be a supen^/oman. It is different with
our real life. I want to point out that, even though they are not
superwomen, wives in our families should be properly treated in
family and society and demand their rights. Our society must
acknowledge the importance of woman as a wife.

The Traditional View:

I think that humans are not perfect. A Korean proverb

suggests that fish can not live in perfectly clean water. However,
Eunju tries to be perfect in her duties. It can cause the disharmony
with her mother-in-law. One of her duties may be to harmonize her
opinion with her mother-in-law. Even though she manages to keep
house very well, she fails to be harmonized with her mother-in-law.
So, I think that she is not a perfect daughter-in-law.

I am a housewife who got married one year ago. I can not

express my opinion freely in front of my mother-in-law. Also, I think
that it takes a long time to learn the life-style and customs of my
husband's family. Therefore, my mother-in-law makes all kinds of
decisions in housekeeping, and I just assist her. In the drama,
Eunju makes every decision by herself. This is not proper behavior.
Before she becomes accustomed to the life-style of her husband's
family, she has to respect the mother-in-law's position in the family.
The new daughter-in-law reflected in the drama is different from our
reality. At least, if she is a better daughter-in-law, she has to ask
her mother-in-law about what to do. It may be better.

Our generation is living in a changing environment like the

improvement of women's role in family and society. Therefore, the
complications between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law may be
more serious. If so, what should our parents' generation do in this
situation? Our mothers have lived in traditionalism for several
decades, and they believe that their major role is a housekeeper.
Let's think about that. If a new daughter-in-law takes mother-in-
law's role in family life one day, she has nothing to do in the family
life. After losing her position in the family, our mothers may think
that they are good for nothing in their family. Even though Eunju is
58
 a good housekeeper, there is excellent know-how to learn from her
mother-in-law. Given the situation, Eunju is wrong.

These responses are written on the basis of audience members'

experiences in their own lives. Therefore, these responses may represent a

reflection of the reality of married life in the Korean family. Although some

responses on the newly emerging family values criticize gender inequality, other

responses emphasize the importance of traditional values and customs, while

they still often acknowledge gender inequality.

The male-centered Korean society places a low value on women's roles in

the family and society. Women always have suffered psychological and physical

disadvantages under the patriarchal structure. Therefore, it is not surprising that

many women struggle for their rights and for equal treatment in society.

However, it is ironic that even some of the women in the audience insist

upon the importance of traditional values, although they have suffered

disadvantages under the patriarchal traditions. This support by women is one of

the reasons that Confucianism and traditionalism have been present so long in

Korea.

As the title of Simone de Beauvoir's book suggests, women have been

considered as "the second sex" throughout human's history. Television programs

that stereotype women as housekeepers and dependent objects have been

criticized by feminists. Feminism in western countries not only argues for equal

rights for woman but also demands change in these stereotypes.

59
 m'^^'^mmmmum

However, feminism in Korea is not completely free from traditionalism.

Although many women in Korea want equal treatment in their society and family,

they partially cling to their traditional roles as the second sex. The feminist

position in Korea is not as disruptive as feminism in many western countries. The

acceptance of certain aspects of traditionalism may be the main difference

between Korea's feminism movements and those of many western countries.

If someone says the concept of a deaf for three and a dumb bride for the

next three years to an American woman, the American woman cannot

understand the concept. However, most Korean women understand it. The major

reason is the cultural differences between two countries.

Evaluation of the Drama

Korean media has long considered the public functions of broadcasting

important, emphasizing broadcasting for the people. The broadcasting policies

and cultural characteristics of Korea have created conservative broadcasting

environments. Television content which depicts sex, violence, and profanity has

been controlled by formal and informal rules. Centrally, sex, violence, and

language caused by media may be easily controlled by specific provisions.

However, it is not as easy to establish the guidelines for television content

which may have adverse moral effects on audiences. Furthermore, establishing

such guidelines may almost certainly cause debates about freedom of

expression. Clearly, the indiscreet misuse of the freedom of expression can

60

5^Gl^r3v?a
• •111. . •
mmmmmmttmmmi ^^^SS^S^^^^^rf.

result in producing demoralizing television programs. For many years, there have

been such debates among audience members about the moral responsibilities of

broadcasting and the importance of freedom of expression in Korea.

For example, Aein (The Lover), a mini series broadcast late in 1996 by

MBC, was the source of such a controversy. The main story focused on the illicit

love affair between a married man and a married woman. In traditional Korean

society which emphasizes the importance of family and marriage, the adulterous

relationship between a married man and a married woman is not considered

love" but "immorality." However, in the drama, the "immorality" was treated as

"true love."

With complete artistic freedom, anything in our culture can be used as a

subject in drama. Because the drama "Aein" did not include any major problems

with the depiction of sex, violence, and language in broadcasting, it was not

controlled by formal or informal rules. The moral evaluation of the drama "Aein,"

though, depended upon the values of the audiences who watched it.

The evaluation is divided into two categories: those who considered Aein

to be "a immoral drama" and those who felt it was "a beautiful love story." Here

are three representative comments from the audience:

It is a serious problem that the immoral story is described as

beautiful love story, isn't it? Is marriage or family junk? Mass media
should not express it as a hot drama, and MBC has to stop
broadcasting the drama "Aein."

In democratic society, let's widen our sight through various

topics and images, excellent acting, and dramatization. If we

61
If ip:^!^—j:^g^s^i'ry^^^Baa«M \mmNr'VMmri

criticize a work of art out of the fixed values of our society, it is

really hard to create a really excellent product of art.

I, a married and working woman, like the drama "Aein." I do

not support the immorality of the drama, but in our society and
customs that have allowed the privileges of men, the idea that even
women can do anything (even immorality) is good. It is a start and
is different than other TV dramas, so I hope that the end of the
drama is different. To destroy our fixed and antique way of
thinking...

These three comments show that the standards of evaluation for the

drama were different. The first comment emphasizes the impropriety of the

drama being on TV, given the negative educational effect on people. The

second comment upholds the freedom of artistic activities in democratic society.

It applauds the changed media environments from direct control by government

to more freedom of artistic expression since 1987. Also, audience members

themselves have been accustomed to freedom of expression for the last decade.

The third comment shows the feminist critique of male-centered Korean society.

It suggests that the drama play an important role in correcting stereotypes of

women. The second and the third comments are considered reformist in Korean

society, given traditional male-centered values.

It is noteworthy that each audience member has his or her own different

standards for evaluating the propriety of drama on TV. See and See also

prompted a similar debate on whether some dramatic content is proper or not on

TV. The following comments focus on the question of whether the double

62
 n rn fHiiiiiiii

relationship by marriage is a proper subject for TV, rather than how audience

members interpret the relationship.

Broadcasting should not only provide people with

entertainment but also play an important role in correcting bad
things and inducing good things in our society. Television programs
should not be used as just a tool for high ratings in our society.
Sometimes, reformist content is needed, but, I think, content out of
our common sense and reality is not appropriate in broadcasting.

Many audience members point out the bad effect that See
and See may have. However, should a drama show good things
ethically? If so, who do want watch the drama? I think that drama
can reflect bad things in our society sometimes. Drama is drama,
and real life is real life. TV is not a textbook of ethical education but
a medium that is supported by popularity.

Drama is just a drama not reality. If TV content is not

allowed for the reason that it is against our customs, our TV has to
return to the past. I hope that TV will be more reformist than our old
custom as much as our society has been changed.

The changed media environment in the 1990s produced rather reformist

television programs and contents, and thus audience members have been

accustomed to the reformist TV. Also, as they have enjoyed their freedom in the

1990s, audience members themselves have been more mature as citizens of a

democratic nation. Their views and tastes of television programs have been

changed, compared with the past.

Audience members in Korea agree that broadcasting performs a public

function for people and television has the power as social force to change

society. However, the central question is the orientation of broadcasting. The

traditional view and the reformist view consist of conflicting standards in deciding

63
v^tM—MiitiMpi^tMii^in^gj

the direction of Korean broadcasting (Table 14). This conflict indirectly shows the

contradiction of cultural identity in modern Korean society.

From the traditional view, the power of media is seen as a social force that

can create new trends in culture. Some audiences worry about the bad influence

of television on audiences and society. Given television's power to affect people,

they argue that freedom of expression has to be limited. On the other hand,

some audience members who support reformist ideas think that antique

traditional values maintain social irrationalities like gender inequality in modern

Korean society. They think that the limitation of freedom of expression may be an

obstacle to the development of media and society.

As the above opinions show, it is not easy to come to a conclusion about

the question of "whether some content is proper or not on Korean TV." It is clear

from the responses to See and See and Ae/>? that modern Korean society

struggles to reconcile traditional values with rather reformist ideas.

In conclusion, this author finds that audience responses on the Internet

give insights into not only the meaning of the dramatic presentation, but also the

larger cultural tensions generated by the clash of tradition and change in modern

Korean society.

64

i'---lJ!jws«WB!io»«;!aieK:
 """' •"'•'"ii.!.i i . i i t i . - i i i i n i i i y^ 'mmi^t,^^>:^mmvMmm\i teaafe^^

Table 10

Main Characters in the Drama See and See

Family Name/Position Occupation 1

Kijng's family Grandmother
Father Schoolmaster in an elementary school

Mother House Keeper

Kijung Lawyer (Kipung's elder brother)

Kipung Dance director of TV station

Eunju's family Father Operator of a small publishing company

Mother House keeper and working woman

Kumju Drama writer and graduate school student

Eunju Nurse (Kumju's younger sister)

Myungwon Teacher of an elementary school

(Two sister's younger brother)
1

Sungmi's family Father Businessman

1
Mother Housekeeper

Sungmi Doctor

65

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 ••••^••a——M»"i—wjBB mmmmi'M/^^i^

Table 11

Total Audience Responses Sent to See and See

Total episodes Total responses Average responses per episode

273 11,801 43.23

Table 12

The Responses according to Period

Period Number of Feedback items

Mar.-Jun 1998 1,031
July-Sep. 1998 2,727
Oct.-Dec. 1998 1,828
Since Jan. 1, 1999 6,215

66

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 •w^ffgr z.mmfmmmmmmmmmiamrmmn\.i ^ -r-^ i'-^SK^

Table 13

The Access Rate per an Audience Member

1,200 items used for analysis among total items

(300 messages sent in each period)

Period Audience number who The average rate of

sent feedback access
Mar.-Jun. 1998 208 1.44
Jul.-Sep. 1998 250 1.2
Oct-Dec. 1998 227 1.32
Jan.-Apr. 1999 232 1.29
Total 1200 items 845 1.42

Table 14

The Collected Audience Feedback Items and the Trends according to Four
Topics:

Topic Traditional View New Emerging Total Item Number

View (N=537)
Marriage 43(19%) 184(81%) 227
Double Relative 97 (68%) 46 (32%) 143
Married Life 27 (39%) 42(61%) 69
Evaluation of the 59 (60%) 39 (40%) 98
Drama

67
 ••^q^nnw^'
IffC V^
tas=x..issScSmS!imWi^T\'' •y-^-'^:^

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

The process of producing televisual texts has a close relationship with the

media context. Television programs may interact with the society of their day,

and drama is often fictionally devoted to interpreting relevant social conflicts.

People can find insights into a society by studying its cultural narratives.

However, interpreting the realities of a society through drama must be

carefully undertaken. There are many complex ways to comment on reality

through dramatic content, story structure, character, and acting. Also, audience

response to drama tends to say more about the expectations of the audience

members or their viewpoints than about the actual stories.

Cultural study of drama or a television program requires a detailed

analysis of not only the processes of producing televisual texts but also the

political, economic, and cultural context of the media. As Allen (1992) suggests,

textual reception is "a meeting place" between televisual discourse and

audiences. Each audience member interprets televisual texts on the basis of his

or her experiences and other social and cultural contexts of a society. Therefore,

audience feedback on a drama is an important source of finding the answers to

the questions of "how does a drama express the reality of a society?" and "what

does a drama say about everyday life in a society?"

68
 Commonalities between the results of the analysis of televisual texts and

those of the analysis of audience feedback provide important clues for

understanding the social trends of a certain age.

The results of this study are summarized as follows. Changes in the

media environments of modern Korea have resulted in a crisis in traditional

values, tending to legitimate social trends linked to the rapid modernization of the

Korean society.

From the viewpoint of the changed media environments, as the direct

censorship or control by government has been abandoned since the political

reform in 1987, the Korean media industry has expanded quantitatively and

qualitatively. Freedom of press has changed environments for producing

television programs. The introduction of SBS, a national commercial network,

has driven the high competition among three Korean television networks for high

ratings. As a result, many provocative programs like See and See and Aein have

been produced.

Another important result is that although Korean society has been

changed through modernization, the traditional values based on Confucianism in

Korea still influence the structures of society and family and the ways of thinking

of Korean people. These values cannot be simply disregarded as obsolete. The

cultural history of Korea has long emphasized the public social responsibilities of

broadcasting. For this reason, even though the drama See and See depicts

changing trends of Korean society and includes provocative content like the

69
i_. j;. -i; .n'- I...'. ..'.I .u^;'%'m''^"mi.iAtmamm^r.: m\mmm'yM,

weird relationships by marriages between two brothers and two sisters, its basic

philosophy is grounded on traditional values. Furthermore, many opinions from

audience members who interpret See and See are based on traditional values.

The last result of this study is that the drama See and See expresses

changing trends in Korean society and some audience members acknowledge

that social change is inevitable. The most significant change can be the

improvement of women's positions in the society and the family. In the drama,

the character Eunju, who is active and is faithful to her duties in her career and

family, represents an image of the modern Korean woman and may reduce

stereotyping of Korean women as subordinate and passive. There are also clear

examples of audience members who embrace newly emerging values in their

interpretation of televisual texts. These facts indirectly show how Korean women

have been active and vocal in demanding proper social treatment and rights in

the conservative Korean society.

This study's purpose is not to decide whether the traditional or the new

emerging values are correct but to show the unique, social and cultural

circumstances of the modern Korea. As a result, this study demonstrates that the

traditional values and the newly emerging values co-exist in modern Korea.

Audience feedback is the result of semi-autonomous activity by individual

audience members. Each audience member interprets and decodes televisual

texts on the basis of his or her individual, cultural, and social backgrounds.

Therefore, on a micro level, the feedback can be used in analyzing the

70
 iJmmmiiiitmfmi wra-fmnmrffli ii iiiiiiii n

processes of decoding televisual texts by individual audience members.

However, although audience feedback is a result of individual decoding of

televisual texts, in this study, some audience responses have commonality in

interpreting the texts. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that for

analyzing the cultural trends of a society on a macro level, audience feedback

can be a useful resource.

Another important thing is that new information technology, especially the

Internet, can be the driving force of changes in society. Especially in the Korean

society, which is relatively unfavorable to women, the Internet allows women to

have access easily, and it provides more chances to women to raise their voices

publicly. Not only television networks but also other groups receive and accept

messages through the Internet. Therefore, the new communication environment

based on the new technology may contribute to the improvement of women's

social positions. Given the rapid diffusion of the Internet, it is expected that

criticism of an unfavorable social situation for women in Korea will increase and

thus can be one of the forces contributing to social change from a conservative

society based on Confucianism to the more opened society for women.

Audience members who voluntarily responded to television programs on

the Internet may be more active than other audience members. Also, their

opinions cannot represent all of the population's opinions. However, given the

new communication environment, audience feedback through the Internet will be

71
IVC mriir<''y^i--i '•--•llflt;"—"r*?"" r- - I ^ i- rr-

more meaningful in the future. In conclusion, audience responses through the

»

Internet are a valuable resource for cultural media studies.

72

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 muMMimfim^

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