• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.77
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• pp.111-136
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• 2016

This paper focuses on the national "flagging" as a current affair, important phenomenon. National flags, it sees, take over varous places, control the surrounding space, and even dictate everybody's perspective by being visualized everywhere anytime. It investigates the issue of national flags and their hoisting poles as a sort of apparatuses that interpellate me as well as us into patriotic 'gookmin'. The placement, arrangement of national flag poles around the country continued throughout 2015 and particularly speeded up in October of the year is regarded as a key symbolic, symptomatic sign to read the transformation of political conjuncture. Preparing a radically conjuncturist cultural study about the changing reality, the researcher will see the flagging poles as a phenomenal result, outcoming of certain intent and plan for reconstructing the political actuality. More precisely, he will interpretate the tall omni-present poles of national flags as a dispositif of appearing the neoliberal/neoconservative capitalist state, as a apparatus of constituting and expressing the masses' psycho-ideological condition of today. The researcher, who perceives the national flag poles as a kind of ISAs. will first review the increased flagging phenomenon and related media discourses. Next, he will critically investigate the 'love our country' 'national flagging' movements organized by the above and operated from the bottom. Then, he will focus more on the very tall national flag poles built and seen around the country. Finally, he will conclude the study with a critical remark, touching briefly the case of controversy over setting a pole in the center of Seoul city square.