• Journal of Popular Narrative
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.143-180
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• 2019

This article aims to examine the manner in which the 'Byeongmat' discourse was constructed, and the mechanism of the 'Byeongmat' discourse. I claim that the constructed discourse excludes disabled persons and women. When the 'Byeongmat' first appeared in the mainstream, it was understood as being presented only by webtoons. Furthermore 'Byeongmat' and webtoons were understood as almost synonymous. In this sense, it is no exaggeration to say that the way in which the 'Byeongmat' discourse was constructed is the way in which 'Byeongmat webtoons' were interpreted. In this article, to find out how the 'Byeongmat' discourse was constructed, I examine two things. First, the reception of media of 'Byeongmat'. 'Byeongmat' was at first understood as 'kitsch' by the media, but soon after generational meaning was added. Second, the interpretation of 'Byeongmat' in academia. In academia, the 'Byeongmat' discourse is advanced as a refined generationalism. Regardless of the 'Byeongmat webtoon' itself, 'Byeongmat webtoon' is interpreted as a text which is destructing narrative and filled with parodies. Furthermore this characteristic of the 'Byeongmat webtoon' is interpreted as a resistance culture of the younger generation. However, this interpretation serves as a mechanism which excludes the disabled and women. Currently, Korean society faces the popularization of the 'Byeongmat' code, the decline of the 'Byeongmat webtoons' and the crack of the younger generation discourse. The current situation allows the 'Byeongmat' discourse to be criticized without losing its social context while securing a distance of critcism. I expect that this article can contribute to further diversifying interpretations of 'Byeongmat' and 'Byeongmat webtoons', and accelerating the crack on the younger generation discourse.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.553-568
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• 2018

Popular music is a spce where intrinsic desires and values of young people are well exposed in its process of production and consumption. Previous discussions of Korean youth and youth culture have been proceeding mainly in the sense of their resistances to older generation. However, this is limited in that it neglects the inherent microscopic characteristics of youth culture. The purpose of this study is to investigate what the signs and discourses of youth generation make and share in popular music, and how it relates to social context through the 'Mimesis' theory. As a result, the songs of the 1990s remarkably showed the resistance to the old generation in its narrative structure and have signs which expresses repression and uniformity. On the other hand, the songs of the 2010s have many fragmented signs which has been reconstructed into individualized discourse structure. It is assumed that the songs have been able to gain a lot of empathy and popularity from the young generation by visualizing emotions and desires experienced by themselves in the social context. Through this study, it suggests to pay attention to the sensitivity, desire and creativity of young people in music in the social and cultural context of the time.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.146-160
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• 2018

The purspose of this study was to investigate on the TV drama of tvN from October to November of 2017, which was regarded as a well description of the current young generation's daily life and reality. In order to figure out how it depicted the young generation in TV drama, the authors tried to analyze it..Through this study, it was found that the rise of neo-liberalism changed their social and financial lives rapidly. It pushed the young generation to give up on dynamic challenges and dreams, and to search for normal and inactive life styles.It was also found that its myths and ideologies implied how much differently Korean young generation confronted big gaps between their cognitive realities and their actual realities. Furthermore, this study suggested that the necessity of full understanding why and how such Korean young generation sought for an unique life styles to overcome various difficulties in such chaotic societal situations.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.84
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• pp.28-98
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• 2017

This work critically deals with the much unstable and fragmented states of young adults in contemporary Korean society. Nowadays, most of young adults in Korea have encountered much severe, uncertain, and 'hellish' socio-economic situations while their dreams of getting regular jobs are hard to achieve. This study aims to present a nuanced and detailed analysis of their sedimented feelings, variegated emotions, as well as embodied positions by utilizing in-depth interviews and critical explorations on their particular modes of survival.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.65-77
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• 2018

Recently, the number of 'single-person household' is increasing rapidly. It brings about changes in the societal cultural aspect. Examples of television programs focused on their lifestyle provoked the societal attention as a important social agenda. This research investigated to figure out inherent ideologies in of tvN through Semiotic and Discourse analyses. As a result, predominant ideologies were revealed on the basis of representations of such single-person households. The authors also tried to find out how the media represent attitudes of single-person households and figure out how the media approach their ways of lives on bases of specific discourses and ideologies.

• Journal of Popular Narrative
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.301-338
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• 2021

John Woo's A Better Tomorrow arrived at the turning point of Korean society between 1987 and 1988. The Hong Kong movie boom that started here reached its peak around the 1990s. What does this phenomenon mean? Hong Kong action films have functioned as an important resource for Korean young male subculture since the late 1960s. The audience of A Better Tomorrow matches the audience of previous Hong Kong films in a generational and gendered way. The fascination of Hong Kong action films by young Korean men from 1987 to 1991 has nothing to do with Hong Kong's political context. However, a certain affect is shared between Korean and Hong Kong audiences. It could be said to be the brotherhood within the struggling group. The affective economies of this fraternity embodies the broad solidarity of 1987, the solidarity of comrades seeking to resist the violence of the world. It also works on symbolic and practical gender bias. In other words, this loyalty is nothing but loyalty between the (male) brothers who are confronting the injustice of the world. This is the "translational possibility" of A Better Tomorrow.