Unification of the Two Koreas: Comparative Examination of Media Coverage on the Unified Women’s Ice Hockey Team across South Korea, the United States, and China

Abstract

This study examined the media coverage of a unified Korean women’s ice hockey team between North and South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, the United States, and China. Framing theory was used to make sense of media coverage of sports events and issues from the lenses of three countries. Data were derived from online print news articles from major news outlets across the three countries. A qualitative content analysis was employed, and the analysis indicates that while three countries domesticated the unified team according to the geopolitical interest of each country—we are one, political charade, the contradiction between North Korea and the U.S.—they also shared a common theme—a milestone for the two Koreas—evident in the findings. The media frames underscored the role of geopolitical contexts in the process of frame-building with the news media mediating and legitimating sports diplomacy varyingly.

韩朝联队：对韩朝女子冰球联队事件的韩美中媒体报道对比研究

本文研究了关于2018年冬奥会韩朝女子冰球联队首秀的媒体报道。本文分别从韩国、美国和中国三个国家的角度运用框架理论来剖析体育赛事和相关问题的媒体报道。数据主要来源于三个国家主流在线和传统媒体。通过定性分析, 本研究发现三个国家分别从不同的地缘政治利益点诠释联队事件, 比如我们是一个整体、政治幌子、朝鲜和美国的冲突等, 同时, 三国之间的报道也包含一个共同的主题, 即此联队事件是韩朝两国的里程碑事件。新闻媒体对体育外交的调节作用和合法化各不相同, 媒体框架强调了框架构建过程中地缘政治因素发挥的作用。

Keywords:

• 2018 Winter Olympics
• framing theory
• geopolitics
• sports diplomacy
• media role

关键词:

• 2018冬奥会、
• 框架理论、
• 地缘政治、
• 体育外交

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sehwan Kim

Sehwan Kim (Ph.D. University of Georgia, U.S.), is a doctoral candidate of Sport Management and Policy in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. His research interests include globalization and sports, sports migration, transnationalism, and sports media.

Jepkorir Rose Chepyator-Thomson

Jepkorir Rose Chepyator-Thomson (Ph.D., University of Georgia), a professor of sport management in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia and Director of Cultural Studies in the Physical Activity Lab. She received her Ph.D., MS, MA and BS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include studies on curriculum and policy issues related to sport and physical education in Africa and African diaspora, urban and transnational diversity, sport labor migration, and gender in sport. She is the recipient of the 2008 Nell C. Jackson Memorial Award from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance for her research on women and girls, and was recognized through an interview on American National Public Radio (NPR) and ABC/News 20/20 Program for her research work on Kenyan runners.

Kyu Ha Choi

Kyu-Ha Choi (Ph.D. Candidate, University of Georgia, U.S.) is a doctoral candidate of Sport Management and Policy in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. His research interests include mega-events and sport organization issues.

Panpan Jiang

Panpan Jiang (MA, University of Nottingham, China) is a visiting scholar in Sports Management and Policy in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. She received her master’s degree in International Relations and World History from the University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China. Her research interests include educational gender equality, female-rights, and sport education.