Global risk, domestic framing: coverage of the North Korean nuclear test by US, Chinese, and South Korean news agencies

Abstract

Comparative framing analysis on coverage of the North Korean nuclear test in the US Associated Press, Chinese Xinhua, and South Korean Yonhap news agencies identified four major media packages. First, a common ‘threat’ frame dominated coverage by all news agencies, represented by reconfiguration of geopolitics and an emphasis on global cooperation in both perception and resolution of the nuclear test. Second, with each nation positioning itself differently in the world power system, the issue was notably domesticated in the news, with Associated Press connecting the nuclear test to the broader ‘War on Terror’ framework found frequently in US media, Xinhua promoting a negotia-tion principle in handling the issue, and Yonhap framing the test with a ‘Cold War’ perspective. In all three cases, national political interests exerted important impacts on the construction of frames. The compatibility of the seemingly opposite packages (globalizing vs. domesticating) signifies both intensification of worldwide social relations and reassertion of national stands. This finding lends support to the transformationalist view of globalization, which suggests that the nation state still matters in a globalized world, but is being recontextualized in a more complex world of politics and culture.