Social media and popular activism in a Korean contextregional embedding of social media in Korea
Social media in Korean society had a direct impact on the political will of the public, intro-
ducing popular practices and actions derived from its own processes. The political impact of
the Internet on society was first seen during the Roh Moo-Hyun administration (2003–2008).
Roh is often regarded as the world’s first Internet-elected President, having been elected as an
individual with the support of local citizens, despite a lack of support from his political party.
The public conducted an online campaign via voluntary online forums and actively supported
Roh during the election period (Watts 2003).
The influence of the Internet on Korean political culture started to draw attention, and the
state promoted the development of an IT infrastructure. However, they ignored the issue of an
adequate policy framework to deal with the World Wide Web and the Internet. Until the Roh
administration, the state had not conceived of cyberspace as a place to come under legislative
and legal authority (Song 2012, 79–82). Consequently, Korean web portals took it upon them-
selves to design and structure the Korean “cyber city” without the state’s involvement. Korean
online users maintained their normal routines, going about their online practices within the
Korean cyber city unencumbered, while their online exchanges were translated into data, which
was then transferred into funding for the web portals. The state actors and non-state actors—and
ordinary Korean online users to some extent—built the Korean online territory with their own
(but radically different) concepts of cyberspace.
By the same token, political activism in Korea was mediated via a social media platform
that dealt with a fluctuating daily discourse rather than on a platform run by a political group.
The Candlelight Protest (henceforth Candlelight 2008)^3 was the most notable, challenging the
Lee Myung-bak administration, which had just brokered the United States–Korea Free Trade
Agreement (KORUS FTA), the latter relating to the importation of possibly diseased beef. The
protest’s momentum lasted a sustained period of time due to the participants’ online activism,
which in turn influenced grassroots events. It was a digital phenomenon in the sense that its
online dimension was the principal location where the idea of the protest was first suggested
and developed (Song 2011, 49–53).
As seen in Figure 9a.1, the protest participants expanded the scope of the protest in multiple
online territories. For example, Agora, an open-access online forum on Daum.net, took a cen-
tral role in leading the protest’s momentum, providing the space to discuss issues and planning.
The results of these discussions were shared with smaller Internet communities such as Soul
Dresser, 82 Cook.com, as well as other social organizations on the ground. Regarding different
dynamics, UCC websites, such as Afreeca.com, streamed the demonstration online in real time
and this was hyperlinked by small Internet communities and forums that boosted its online dis-
cussion (Song KW 2008). Many people who participated in online discussions, for example on
Agora in Daum.net and other online communities, made plans to be physically present at the
protest the next day. Hence, their virtual online agreements were reflected in the actual numbers
of protest participants on the ground (Song KJ 2008, 77).
Candlelight 2008 clarified Koreans’ perceptions about the potential of the Internet to mobi-
lize people. Koreans, and politicians in particular, suddenly became aware that a virtual world was
heavily interwoven with the physical world (Song 2012, 17). Taking into account the power and
influence of ordinary people, the president made a special announcement and apologized for
his decision regarding the importation of U.S. beef. Although the decision was not reversed, the
protests contributed to re-examining and renegotiating the treaty’s conditions (Song 2011, 52).
This groundbreaking online activism appeared to open up the possibility that the Internet could
generate a new platform for public communication and, in effect, establish a form of digital