In-between the National and the Foreigner: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the “half-bloods” in South Korean Newspaper

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In-between the National and the Foreigner:

A Critical Discourse Analysis of the “half-bloods” in South Korean

Newspaper

Hyun Jun Kim

International Migration and Ethnic Relations

Bachelor Thesis 15 credits

Spring 2020: IM245L

Supervisor: Sayaka Osanami Törngren

Word Count: 11374

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Abstract

This paper seeks to examine how South Korean news media portrayed mixed-race South Koreans in Korean society by analysing articles from the newspapers Dong-A Ilbo and Kyunghyang Shinmun. The paper explores the process of formation of discourse on mixed-race people in South Korea, and the contextual background that relates to it by analysing newspaper articles from 1950 to 2019 through critical discourse analysis. The research is conducted within the theoretical frames of the concept of ‘othering’ and critical discourse analysis of the newspapers. The results of the study show that mixed-race people in South Korea are characterised as an unwanted nuisance, as outsider ‘others’ as opposed to Korean ‘us’, and as a victim with reflective views in the newspaper portrayals. Furthermore, the paper highlights that such portrayals of mixed race are based on ethnic nationalism and patriarchal ideas that influenced the discourse around them in South Korea.

Keywords: Mixed-race, Korea, South Korea, Critical discourse analysis, Othering,

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1 Introduction

1.1 Introduction to the Topic

As international migration became commonplace and transnational activities became active throughout South Korea (hereafter Korea), the Korean society has transformed into a multicultural society where people with various races, cultures, and religions co-exist.

Accordingly, the number of foreign residents has drastically increased from 65,673 in 1992 to 2,367,607 in 2018, which amount to around 4.6% of the population in Korea in 2018

(Ministry of Justice, 2018). The increased ethnic diversity brought about the birth of increased people of mixed background including people of mixed race. People of mixed race in the Korean society increasingly became acknowledged since Hines Ward, a mixed black American and Korean football player, has achieved fame in American football (Ahn, 2015). Korean nationalism tends to emphasise its ethnic nature and beings of mixed race are somewhat tricky in that they are in between the Korean and outsider. The mixed-race in Korea has gone through discrimination due to the ambiguity of their belonging (Lee, 2017; Kim, 2014). The discrimination towards the mixed race is often based on the idea of pure-bloodism, which forms the Korean identity among the people. The special situation of mixed race can be found and explored in light of the way Korean newspapers portrayed them. Therefore, it would be of value to carry out a critical discourse analysis of mixed persons in Korean to understand how news media shape public views and construct the society in the minds of Korean people.

1.2 Research Problem

In the traditional socio-cultural framework of a single nation, mixed-race people are placed in boundaries between Korean and foreigners distinct from the majority of Korean society (Lee, 2017, p. 535). In the socio-cultural context with bloodline centred society in Korea, mixed-race tend to be objectified into the role of ‘the other’, and often marginalised in school life, family formation, employment and social relations often based on a different appearance in the society (ibid). In terms of the Korean notion of an ethnically homogeneous society, “mixed blood” belongs to the ‘new third category’ as a person born between Korean and

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5 other ethnic groups. This group of people of mixed race is not only a political and economic minority but also a cultural minority that is discriminated in the cultural structure of the Korean nation-centred society and has no conditions to express themselves through the official channels of society (Oh, 2009, p. 219). Especially, in contrast to the growing

scholarship on race studies in the United States or Europe, few studies examine mixed-race figures in East Asia because mixed-race has only recently become an analytic framework to navigate social changes in the region (ibid). Particularly South Korea has been historically considered as racially homogenous and mixed-race figures have been underrepresented in media and faced social discrimination due to their racial ‘impurity’ (M. Lee, 2008; Lim, 2010; Ahn, 2015).

In Soen, Shechory and David (2012), Louis Wirth defines a minority group as “a group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.” (Soen, et al., 2012). Sociologists typify minority groups by four characteristics: first, suffering discrimination, exclusion, subordination; second, cultural and/or physical traits that single them out and which are disapproved by the majority group; third, a shared sense of collective identity and common sorrows; and fourth, socially shared rules as to who belongs and who does not belong (Ibid). In terms of those characteristics, mixed-race Koreans can be categorised as a minority group as they correspond to three conditions except for the collective consciousness (Baek, 2006, p. 4).

In the US and British media, minority groups and ethnic groups are often excluded from the news. When reporting, the media tend to highlight negative sides of mixed race to form social prejudice, and frame the whole group with negative images to distort them (Hall, et al., 2013). Similarly, in the case of Korean media, foreign women from international marriages, and their mixed-race children tend to be portrayed with negative and undeveloped images rather than positive and developmental images (Baek, 2006, p. 8). The human rights of ‘ethnically different’ foreign workers are not considered but they are sensationally reported for the sake of arousing the interest (Jung & Lee, 2007, p. 52). In other words, the socially underprivileged in political and economic inequality are alienated or skewed in terms of media representation, mixed races tend to be the main target for this situation (ibid). Mixed races tend to be classified as ‘the weak’ in the framework of human relationships created by

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6 ‘the strong’ due to their vulnerable traits and poor resources (Baek, 2006, p. 6). In other words, it is rare for media to adopt the issue of mixed races as a media agenda except in case of big events or media spectacle, and the media tends to marginalise them in public society (Jung & Lee, 2007, p. 52). As a result, ethnic minorities, such as mixed races, tend to be classified as ‘others’ who are being more neglected than the disabled or irregular workers in Korea (Baek, 2006, p. 8). The biased coverage of mixed races can have a negative impact on multicultural communication in Korea, therefore, it is necessary to investigate it.

1.3 Aim and Research Questions

The aim of the research is to investigate the discourse around “mixed blood” in Korea by checking how Korean newspapers have portrayed them. In addition to that, this paper aims to explore how the discourse has changed historically in Korean newspapers and how the portrayal of the mixed-race at different times varies from one another. The analysis will be made in connection with Korea’s historical background and ideas that might affect the discourse. The thesis will examine how the discord in newspapers in Korea has changed since 1950 until today as it could provide insights into the situation of mixed blood in Korean society. In order to specify the research problem and to form where this study is going, the following research questions are devised:

1. How the newspapers in South Korea have portrayed “Mixed blood” and how is the discourse around the mixed-race has changed over history?

2. What kind of ideas of a Korean national identity affected the discourse on “mixed blood”?

1.4 Terminology

It is valuable to first clarify and determine which terminology is applied in describing mixed-race people both in general and in Korea. According to Kim (2003), ‘honhyeol’ (literally translated as and hereby referred to as ‘mixed blood’) in Korean language and context is not a neutral term which simply means that there is a blend of blood between different races but a racist term. She explains that in the context of pure blood centred nationalist discourse in Korea, the “mixed blood” is a condition of oppression and alienation (Kim, 2003, p. 15).

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7 According to Chung (2015), the term ‘mixed blood’ is a very cautious term as it could lead to misunderstandings that the 'race' exists as a biological entity, which could prioritise biological factors such as blood in defining the identity of a human group. “Mixed blood” is a word that means a mixture of different kinds of blood; therefore, the word presupposes the existence of pure blood. In other words, the word ‘mixed-blood’(honhyeol) itself already has a negative social connotation as opposed to ‘sunhyeol (literally translated as pureblood)’ (Nam, 2008, pp. 97-101). However, since the beginning of human history, humans have always been mixed with other kinds of blood, and there is no evidence that supports the idea of a single ethnic nation that exists in Korea. As the ‘pure blood’ only exists in our mind, distinguishing a group or person by the characteristic of 'mixed blood' is concurrently based on the logic of fiction (Tambiah, 1996, p. 21).

In English, people have been using the word “mixed” to describe racial identity for at least 200 years, as 1864 British study claims that “no mixed races can subsist in humanity”. According to Donnella (2016), Christine Iijima Hall is the first influential user of the word “multiracial” for describing people with blended ancestries. Hall defines “multiracial” as an umbrella term, which means “being of two or more races”. The term “multiracial” was adopted by several advocacy groups, some of which felt the term neutralised the

uncomfortable connotations of a competing term in use at that point: “mixed”. The term “mixed” evokes “identity crisis” to some, says Teresa Williams-León, “It becomes the antithesis to pure.” (Donnella, 2016). Even though, Nam (2008) concurs with Hall in that ‘multiracial’ is a relatively more ‘refined expression’ in comparison to the word ‘mixed blood’, he still claims that the term ‘multiracial’ is still inadequate. Today “race” is considered as a social mechanism that is invented during the nineteenth century of the colonial era (American Anthropological Association, 1997). Nonetheless, differentiating people of mixed race is based on the fictional logic, it cannot hide the reality where the people of mixed race are discriminated against ‘normal citizens’ based on such logic (Chung, 2015, p. 147). Therefore, this paper is going to use the term, ‘mixed-race’ and ‘mixed blood’, merely for the purpose of recognising the facts of discrimination that such groups of people experiences.

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8 It is important to explore the Korean context to be able to understand the situation of mixed race in Korea. I am going to explain when the mixed Korean emerged and how they are defined in society. The contextual information will help us understand the analysis with regards to the mixed-race in Korea.

It is not easy to determine the exact time when the mixed-race emerged in Korea. The number of mixed races has not been statistically compiled until the 1950s and was not brought up in detail for discussion. Since the 1950s, the emergence of visually identifiable (different appearances) of mixed races has led to social awareness of mixed races in

newspaper articles. The Korean War was the decisive factor in the emergence of mixed races in Korean society since the 1950s. The number of Americans in the US military has

increased, resulting in the creation of mixed races between them and Korean women, and the number of mixed races has dramatically increased accordingly. The United Nations Forces participated in the Korean War, and after that, the US army continued to be stationed, increasing the number of mixed races. The majority of mixed races that emerged after the arrival of the US army differed significantly from their appearance in Korea. Although mixed races existed before this period in Korea, as the previous mixed races were assimilated easily in terms of appearance and lineage, their existence was not the subject of controversy (Oh, 2009, p. 220). After the Korean War, international marriage was the main factor for the increase of mixed races. Since the late 1980s, the influx of foreign workers into Korea has increased the number of mixed races born between Southeast Asian men and Korean women. In addition, the number of mixed races born between South Korean men in a rural area and foreign brides from Southeast Asia has increased as well (Kang, 2011).

There are scholars who explain the reason for them being marginalised with regards to the concept of pure-bloodism in Korea. Nam (2008) argues that the nationalistic concept of ethnicity and culture was introduced into Korea through Japan in the late Joseon Dynasty. The concept of nationalism form Germany emphasised the lineage along with language, culture, and history. This concept was imported to Japan for the annexation of Joseon with the lineage-based propaganda of ‘Japan and Korea as one’ (naeseon-ilche) (Nam, 2008, p. 99). The traditional ‘supremacy’ of civilisation in Joseon could not prevail and the Korean intellectuals in the Japanese colonial period emphasised the concept of blood ethnicity as a defence against the Japanese propaganda mentioned earlier. The concept of pure-bloodism, which is strengthened in conflict with the outside world, was further emphasised in the

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9 chaotic situations surrounding Korea, including the division of the Korean peninsula, the Korean War, and the Cold War between the east and west. The distrust of the neighbouring powers as an obstacle to the reunification of Korea has only strengthened the nationalism among the people (Lee, 2011, p. 76). As Spencer said, “irrational primordial core” can be employed to the dominant prejudices of the public in such complex situations. He explains that “conflicts often stem from a history of invasion and reprisal over many decades or even centuries” (Spencer, 2006, p. 77). The strong national consciousness of Koreanness formed in this situation gave rise to consciousness to a negative attitude towards the outside group (Lee, 2011, p. 76).

2 Literature Review

In order to provide a description of discourse analysis in the Korean context, it is relevant to check previous research that incorporates the discourse analysis of mixed race in Korean mass media. The focus of this literature review is on the most influential scholars who in their studies include topics, such as the application of stereotypes, the impact of the different media and ethnicity as well as image creation of mixed race throughout certain time periods.

2.1 Previous Research Regarding the mixed-race in Korea

Several studies based on the current awareness of ‘mixed-race’ problem pointed out that Korean society has discriminated against minorities including mixed races as the standard of racism, nationalism, and ethnicity, and suggest a multicultural direction how Korean society should be changed into. Heo (2014) argues that Korean people glorify ‘pure blood’ and exclude ‘mixed-race’ and ‘hybrid’ (p. 22). In the discourse of Korean nationalism, which regards nationality as a fixed entity that is not altered by any external pressure or change, is embedded in the fear of the division, gap, and discontinuity of identity brought about by the history of colonisation (ibid). Nam (2008) also argues that the nationalistic concept of ethnicity and culture is used for consolidation of Korean unity as a defence against colonisation and the outside world (p. 99). These studies further address the issues of discrimination and poverty faced by minorities, including mixed races, and address the perceptions and attitudes of Korean society from the past to the present to investigate the cause. A scholar like Aram Kim (2009) noted that Korean society, which is changing to a

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10 “multi-ethnic” and “multicultural” society, still discriminates against minorities, referring to 1950 as its historical background (p. 116).

The previous study of mixed races began since the 1940s to identify anthropological and anatomical racial features in the medical field (ibid). From the 1960s to 1980s, research was conducted on policies on the status and adoption of mixed-race children. Since the 2000s, research about the experience, identity and cultural approach of mixed races and policy

measures by governments and civic groups have increased (Kim, 2009, p. 66). Recently, the experience and present life of mixed races born in the 1950s have been restored through oral sources (ibid). At the same time, studies on the mixed races who were adopted abroad are conducted.

Scholars like Chung-Kang Kim (2014), Byun (2013) and Shin (2019) have conducted their research of how mixed races are portrayed within the wider range of literature on the portrayal of mixed races. Chung-Kang Kim (2014) focuses on the political, social, and

cultural meanings and discourses of the “visible” way of black-mixed Koreans who have been increasingly discriminated in public domains, and how the politics of exclusion and division have marginalised them in Korean society. Kim reveals the psychology of Korean people who uses racist terms towards mixed races in everyday life collectively distinguishes themselves from mixed races, ‘others’, and seeks to remain as “pure-blooded” Korean by clarifying the separation of not only other races but the ‘tainted’ Korean race. (Kim, 2014, pp. 250-254).

Byun (2013) reveals the prejudices among Koreans looking at mixed-race in the novels of the 1950s and 1960s through discourse analysis. She examines how the mixed persons were targeted by the Korean perspective by analysing the novels in the time. Their skin colours not only work as a strong ‘label’ that Koreans hierarchise their body with the different appearance as a rank but also a sign that they have “foreign blood” (Byun, 2013). These previous researches help us understand the distinct appearance of mixed-race people can act as a factor that divides them from Korean society. The studies on how the mixed races with specific ethnical backgrounds are treated discriminatingly are important for this paper in that it shows not only that racial markers could be a reason why mixed races are discriminated but also possible presence of hierarchies in relation to mixed races in Korean society.

2.2 Discourse Analysis around the Newspapers

Jaran Shin (2019) (Shin, 2019) investigates how multicultural children have been portrayed in news articles from 2009 to 2013 by the three Korean newspapers: Hankyoreh, Hankook Ilbo

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11 and Chosun Ilbo. Her analysis reveals that multicultural children in Korea have been

marginalised as a potential threat to Korean society.

In the first discourse, the writer examines how the recurrent discourse about multicultural children is constructed through four themes; restricted familial access to resources, deficiency in the Korean language, limited educational achievement, and maladjustment in school (Shin, 2019, p. 7). According to the three newspapers, the limited economic, linguistic, and cultural resources of multicultural children. These multicultural children’s mothers are usually foreigners who are more likely to have poor Korean language ability. The poor Korean language comprehension of the mothers could form a

communication barrier between them and their children, which makes an additional negative impact upon the linguistic and mental development of multicultural children (ibid, p. 8). The restricted access to such resources and lack of language fluency of multicultural children leads to maladjustment in school. In addition to that, limited Korean proficiency of multicultural children can be the source of lower academic achievement in school. Shin argues that these four characterisations of multicultural children are the main reasons why they are ostracised and marginalised in school. This is revealed in Shin’ findings of the interviews from Chosun Ilbo and Hankook Ilbo, where multicultural children receive specific remarks that reflect othering from peers (ibid). Shin ends the section by discussing how the discourse of marginalization reflects the ideology of democracy. The ideology of democracy is clearly shown in the news articles about multicultural children which identify “multicultural children as targets of dispensation”. Korean society attempts to position itself as a democratic society that serves all people by reporting multicultural children on financial and educational

provision for multicultural children (ibid, p. 9).

In the second discussion, Shin discusses how the Korean newspapers (re)create ethnocentric ideas and explore how the process of othering is connected to the ideology of nationalism. For example, when Min-woo Hwang, who attained national fame as a child entertainer, revealed his multicultural background, some ethnocentric comments such as “inferior race, crossbreed” and “Trash from the root” appeared online (ibid, p.11). Shin (2019) explains that these ethnocentric comments serve various functions. Firstly, the comments reflect public hostility to a celebrity for making his fortune in Korea, yet he is not a “pure” Korean himself. Shin finds the reason behind Hwang being attacked by some Koreans for being a mixed child from “the mismatch between ideology and actuality” (ibid). Moreover, news media unwittingly recreate the ethnocentric ideas and ultimately oppress multicultural

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12 children by publicising hate speech (ibid). This discourse of threat reflects an ideology of nationalism, “which holds that the political and national unit should be congruent” (ibid). Korean nationalism characterises multicultural children as “not full Koreans” or “half

Koreans” who are described as a high potential to create social issues in the future in contrast to “pure Koreans” with monoethnic, monolingual, and monocultural nature as what Koreans should be proud of (ibid).

Finally, the third discourse focuses on the positive side of multicultural children out of negative framing of them by describing them as “global human resources” (ibid). Shin

ultimately shows how the discourse of global human resources fulfils the role of

neoliberalism, “a theory of political economic practices that inculcates an ideology of social and spatial mobility based on free enterprise and individual agency in order to increase economic profitability” (ibid, p. 12). The global human resources discourse sees multicultural children as “jewellery in the mud”, the high potential by focusing on the linguistic and cultural capital of multicultural children (ibid). The “differences” that multicultural possess are depicted as “special abilities” that could enable them to develop linguistic and cultural assets (ibid). In this point of view, multicultural children are future global human resources with their value to Korean society as multilingual and multicultural individuals (ibid). In the view of neoliberalism, language, and culture are mere commodities that can be considered as capital value and can be exchanged on the market (ibid, p.13). Therefore, the global human resources discourse uses the ideology of neoliberalism in the process of establishing Korea as a capitalistic market society where everything in life is marketized object by market force (ibid, p.16). Though scholars have researched the challenges that mixed-race face with otherness in Korean society, there has been little that examines how the discourse of mixed race in the news media in Korea has changed over history. Therefore, with this research, I aim to fill the gap and discuss what kind of ideas in Korean has influenced the discourse of mixed race.

3 Theoretical Framework

3.1 Critical Discourse Analysis

Over several decades, A lot of researchers have adopted CDA studies in discourses about race and ethnicity (Shin, 2019). Analysis of newspaper articles suggests tendencies in the

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13 stereotypes projected through language and communication (Fairclough, 1995, p. 25). The social meaning of a time period begins with the analysis of the discourse of newspaper articles. CDA is an analytical method that can include both social background, action, and implication (ibid). In this study, newspaper articles were viewed as a one-story structure and analysis unit. News media are important for understanding how and why the world operates as it does as they are a key source for producing culture and information (Thornton, 2009, p. 107). This qualitative analysis method is mainly used to examine media analysis and social problems of social minorities (Fairclough, 1995, p. 223). The purpose of this study is to

examine the social context of the term “mixed blood” through newspaper articles. Therefore, I examined the changes in the discourse of the period through the analysis of the mixed-blood collected in newspaper articles. In addition to that, this paper examines the social meanings based on the facts and tones on the newspaper articles includes mixed discourses.

Fairclough uses the term ‘discourse’ to refer to any use of language, whether it is a verbal or written form and he defines critical discourse analysis as “an analytical framework for studying connections between language, power and ideology” (Fairclough, 1995, p. 15). The analysis of discourse must be accompanied by an insight into the order of discourse at a certain point in time, which can secure depth as critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1995). Critical discourse analysis is an analytical method that takes precedence in analysing media discourse and is done through the stages of describing, interpreting, and explaining the ways in which discourses are constructed (Bell & Garrett, 1998). Fairclough explains that critical discourse analysis “aims to systematically explore often opaque relationships of causality and determination between (a) discursive practices, events and texts, and (b) wider social and cultural structures, relations and processes” (Fairclough, 1995, p. 132). CDA sees discourse as a form of social practice that is represented by text and verbal communication. CDA

investigates how the structural dimension of society are established and reinforced through language use. Therefore, it is in and through language that social relations of power are produced, sustained, and transformed (Fairclough, 1985, pp. 17-19).

According to van Dijk (1988), structural analysis at ‘various levels of description’ is the step of analysing the characteristics of the article, which meant not only the grammatical, phonological, morphological and semantic level but also “higher-level properties” such as coherence, overall themes and topics of news stories and the whole schematic forms and rhetorical dimensions of texts (p. 18). For the interpretation step of analysing, which van Dijk explains as “production processes”, van Dijk means journalistic and institutional practices of

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14 news-making and the economic and social practices which not only play important roles in the creation of media discourse but which can be explicitly related to the structures of media discourse. In the process of interpretation, we understand the social situation and various meanings of events, objects, experiences, and texts. Van Dijk’s (1988) other dimensions of analysis, “reception processes”, considers the comprehension, “memorization and

reproduction” of news information (p. 2). Explanations are the stage of assessing temporary social events and sustainable social relationships.

3.2 Stereotyping & Othering

In conducting the analysis of the news articles, I will involve the concept of ‘othering’ in relation to the situation of mixed races. The concept of othering can be useful in

understanding the discourses surrounding different ways of portrayals in the newspaper and some problematic cases of mixed races in Korea. The concept of ‘othering’ will be used to check if the Korean news media are placing the mixed races within the boundary of ‘Us’ or ‘them’ because of their distinctive appearances.

Stereotyping as a signifying practice is central to the representation of racial

difference. The concept of ‘difference’ and the ‘other’ are important tenets for analysing the practice of racial representations. According to Ott & Mack (2014), people of colour often become victims of racial representation, the stereotyping process of constructing misleading representations of a minority racial group, when they appear in the media. ‘Group’ is often used for handling discrimination, for sorting unequally, and “it acquires much of its apparent solidity by being traded in discourse” (Fowler, 1991, p. 94). Media stereotypes make value judgments about “the worth, taste, and morality of another culture” based on the definition of members by a small number of characteristics, and in doing so “they can influence our

attitudes, behaviours, and actions toward members of that culture” (Ott & Mack, 2014, p. 152).

Stereotypes ignore the inherent complexity of a racial group produce simplified and flawed representations of media (ibid). Firstly, Richard Dyer explains stereotyping by making a distinction between typing and stereotyping. We use type, which is simple, intuitive, and vivid characterisation in which a few traits can be prioritised and altered, in making sense of the world; “We understand the world by referring individual objects, people or events in our

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15 heads to the general classificatory schemes into which — according to our culture — they fit” (Hall, 1997, p. 257). Dyer argues that we always use the typification process of making sense of things in our life. Secondly, Hall (1997) explains that stereotyping sets up a distinction between “the ‘normal’ and the ‘abnormal’, the ‘acceptable’ and the ‘unacceptable’, what ‘belongs’ and what does not or is ‘other’, between 'insiders' and ‘outsiders’, ‘us’ and ‘them’”. Stereotyping facilitates the bonding together of all of ‘us’ who are 'normal' into one ‘imagined community’, and it excludes all of ‘them’, 'the others' from the imagined community (Hall, 1997, p. 258). Thirdly, Foucault explains stereotype as a “power/knowledge sort of game” in that it classifies people according to a norm and constructs exclusion as ‘other’. Stereotype occurs when there are inequalities of power. Dyer explains that the power use stereotype to make their view look appear as ‘natural’ and ‘inevitable.

The establishing of ‘difference’ is a crude way of establishing meaning through binary oppositions which implies that meaning depends on the difference between opposites.

Saussure in Hall (1997) argues that “we need difference because we can only construct meaning through a dialogue with the ‘other’”. Therefore, “difference matters because it is essential to meaning; without it, meaning could not exist” (p. 234). Moreover, Hall (1997) states that the marking of difference is important in that it is the basis of symbolic order which we call culture, saying “Culture depends on giving things meaning by assigning them to different positions within a classificatory system” (p. 236). Bakhtin argues that meaning is established through dialogue, everything we say, and mean is modified by the interaction and interplay with another. He claims that “symbolic boundaries are central to all culture.

Marking difference leads us, symbolically, to close ranks, shore up culture and to stigmatize and expel anything which is defined as impure, abnormal. However, paradoxically, it also makes ‘difference’ powerful, strangely attractive precisely because it is forbidden, taboo, threatening to culture order.” (Hall, 1997, p. 236). Ott & Mack (2014) argue that instances of othering still exist today in the entertainment industry. They stress that othering within the media are often “difficult to identify because they rely on the unquestioned ideological assumptions about race and culture that we use to make sense of the world” (p. 156). This process drew clear distinctions between binary opposites. The notion of othering greatly illuminates the ways many media texts function. The power of discourse could greatly

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4 Research Method and Data Collection

The social perception of an object is expressed by the language of the sound, or by the text, beyond the thought, and by social action. The social portrayal of a mixed-race can also manifest itself in the language and text of the individual and produce meaning. One of the things that represent the voices of the crowd in the present time is the media, and the

newspaper is a representative example of the textual media. Newspapers form ideologies that take for granted the unequal relations of existing social relations and power. In other words, the ideology and opinions that expressed in newspapers usually represent that the opinions are social, institutional, or political rather than personal and individual (Bell & Garrett, 1998). Studying ideology explores ways in which meaning contributes to establishing and

maintaining dominant relations, and language relates to ideology because language use for meaning production is the most basic and common way in society (Thompson, 1990). In order to understand the process of changing the social meaning of the mixed-race on the premise of the ideological role of the newspaper and the social power, it is necessary to look beyond the self-analysis of the articles of one era and look at the change of discourse according to the times’ phenomenon.

The field of communication that is mediated by media plays an important role in shaping collective awareness and response to various social problems (Croteau & Hoynes, 2014). Moreover, mass media have a function as a one-way communication tool that strengthens the public beliefs that are connected to the expert views of society (Coleman, 1995, p. 70). News framing process systematically supports the dominant values and belief system of society. As the continuous process is made up of selection, emphasising, and exclusion, analysing the initial frame can help us predict what sort of issues will be reported in the future (Jung & Lee, 2007, p. 52). Mainstream media do not provide detailed social and historical background information, but rather image-based reporting rather than essence, and often exclude investigative reporting on the structural background of social problems for political or economic reasons (Coleman, 1995, pp. 68-69). In addition to that, the media focuses on personalising various social problems by depicting them dramatically and simplifies them (Jung & Lee, 2007, p. 52).

In this study, newspaper articles were viewed as a story structure and a unit of analysis. Existing research about the discourse analysis of mixed race in Korea was also conducted to identify the political, social, and cultural meanings of mixed race based on the

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17 titles of literature, keywords, and metaphors in each story of media using descriptive coding. The purpose of this study is to examine how mixed race is represented and expressed in newspaper articles in Korea. Therefore, the changes in the discourses of the times were examined through the tone of the mixed-race collected by the times in newspaper articles. In Korean society, mixed-race started to become the subject of controversy in the 1950s, which is less than 70 years ago. According to Kim (2009), the awareness of society about the mixed-race people has been expressed through newspaper reports since the 1950s, and it is desirable to look at least 50 years in order to reflect the social viewpoint towards the mixed-blood from the 1950 to 2018 period. Therefore, I have chosen to focus on facts and tone of each discourse in articles rather than looking at the articles in chronological order.

In order to examine the social perception of the mixed-race persons in Korean media, this study includes the Dong-A Ilbo (conservative), Kyunghyang Shinmun (progressive) articles and the books containing the periodical view related to mixed race, which was searched for the keyword ‘mixed blood’ from 1950 to 2018. According to the newspaper circulation input of Korea Audit Bureau of Certification in 2016, The Dong-a Ilbo (DA) and The Kyunghyang Shinmun (KH) came in third and eighth with 917,851 and 205.259

circulations respectively. The selected newspaper companies are two of three newspaper companies that are founded before 1950 among the top ten news and media. DA and KH were founded in 1920 and 1946 respectively and have been publishing up to today. Therefore, they are selected as a study subject as they are the media that could represent Korean society, so it is suitable to derive the social perception of the mixed blood. Until 1999, ‘News library service’ of the Korean internet portal site Naver, was used to search articles of DA and KH Newspaper. For the articles since 1999, I checked each website of the newspaper for analysing the articles. Using the keyword ‘mixed race’ (honhyeol), I got 818 news articles from DA and KH (DA:389 and KH:429). Among 818 articles that were searched for ‘mixed-race’, articles that are not related to the purpose of this research such as commercials, movies, biology, and articles about non-Korean mixed-race are excluded. Out of the 60 articles that are searched by keywords of ‘mixed blood (honhyeol)’ and ‘Korea’ published by DA and KH from 1950 to 1970, 30 were all fact-related articles related to the adoption of mixed-race children. The following table shows the number of mixed-race related articles for each decade:

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Year 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Dong-A 25 32 36 46 76 200 47

Kyunghyang 19 39 30 56 88 203 51

5 Analysis

This study looks at the discourse of mixed race in newspaper articles through three stages of critical discourse analysis and focuses on what social background these discourses were formed in. The process of analysing each article went through the following process: the three stages of critical discourse analysis involve the process of 'describing' an article in the process of analysing the discourse in the research results, and 'interpreting' and 'explaining' the

process of creating the category by analysing its contents (van Dijk, 1998). As a result of the examination, it was found that the articles or contexts of each category have a slight overlap as it was a study examining social perception. However, as there are different meanings in the context of each category, I decided to differentiate them. Through the process of discourse analysis, social discourse about ‘how Korean society looked at a mixed-race’ and ‘why Korean society looked at them in such a way’ was derived.

5.1 How Did Korean Society Look at the Mixed-race?

5.1.1 The mixed-race as a nuisance

The beginning of the recognition of mixed-race persons in Korean society was in the early 1950s when the US military government began (Nam, 2008, p. 94). By referring to those who are born between a foreign father and a Korean mother as a ‘mixed-blood’, Korean society showed that they did not want ‘blood-mixed people’ to remain in Korea. In 1954, President Syngman Rhee ordered a growing number of mixed-blood children to be sent to their ‘fatherland, home country’ (Nam, 2008, p. 106). Only a very small number of people have claimed domestic adoptions of mixed-race children, and most people have argued that there is no place for mixed-race children in Korea.Due to these circumstances, the discourse of articles in the 1950s, as well as the 60s, mostly focus on issues that are related to the adoption of mixed-race children in Korea to abroad, especially to the US.

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19 Mixed race children in South Korea could continue to be adopted in the United States under the special order of President Eisenhower (The Kyunghyang Shinmun, 1956).

Such claim to adopt mixed-race persons overseas and shifting the responsibility of them to the United States at the time was based on exclusive nationalist ideas that these children do not belong to ‘us’, Korea (Lee, 2015, p. 358). The media also played a big role in spreading this idea in the country. In the 1950s’ articles, the media tended to describe

America as ‘an equitable society without racism’ and a country that formed a humanistic middle-class ideology. The Korean media had started to advertise that it was good for their future to send mixed-race children to the US to be adopted to the public domain by spreading sympathetic photos of the children. The media also described the negative situation of mixed-race children in Korea and addressed how adoption can be a solution to such a problem.

Ms Pearl Buck said that mixed children who have Americans and Korean women as parents are “dying like a fly” at Korean orphanage…She also said that the president of the Republic of Korea, Syngman Rhee, also wants the children to be taken to abroad… the children of the mixed-blood orphans in Korea who were abandoned by their father, ‘GI’ and their mother, a South Korean woman, are being abhorred by Koreans and that the fate of these half-American children is almost deadly (The Dong-A Ilbo, 1959).

Korean newspapers have indicated the number of adopted children in the United States, and sometimes even reported that these children live well in the United States. However,

reflective or unfavourable opinions about the adoption of mixed children abroad are rarely found. In addition to that, there had been a positive representation of those who help or facilitate the adoption process. For example, Harry Holt and Pearl Buck, who have adopted a lot of mixed-race Koreans, have been nominated for the sublime ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’ (Kim, 2014, pp. 292-295). It is assumed that the positive portrayal of those who facilitate the adoption in the news are aimed to promote the adoption as such positive to the public.

The US Refugee Aid Relations Meeting, held on the 6th, said that it has decided concrete plans for the final decision of US immigrants who have been in a sluggish state and for the convenience of the procedure. He said he will gradually move the 380 former Korean mixed-bloods to the United States while shortening the transit period,

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20 which took eight months, to two or three months in the future (The Kyunghyang Shinmun, 1954).

Harry Holt, an American who had previously adopted eight mixed-blood children, arrived in Seoul. Holt is a friend of Larson, the father of mixed blood orphans. He and Mr Larson came to Korea to take 500 mixed-blood Koreans to America (The Dong-A Ilbo, 1956).

This may be due to the government's policy, but news reports about adoption in the 1950s and 1960s also showed objective attitude towards mixed-race focusing on delivering facts rather than showing sentimental attitude, thinking of mixed blood as Korean bloodline. In 1967, a columnist’s article projected the view of society not to increase the number of mixed-race children:

Pearl S. Buck calls children born between American fathers and Asian mothers an ‘Amerasian’ or ‘New People.’ ... “They are excellent people who have survived the infant mortality rate of 50%. In terms of both body and intelligence” (The

Kyunghyang Shinmun, 1967).

I (the reporter Jang) told her (Pearl S. Buck) that I do not want the number of such children to increase, and she agreed with me (Jang, 1967).

The popular mood of the time which is against the increase in the number of mixed-race people in Korea is revealed in the statistics that are not counted accurately and the articles that say how they are doing well in foreign countries after adoption. The idea that the mixed children are a foreigner, who is not a “pure-blooded Korean”, and that it is more appropriate for them to live in a foreign country is reaffirmed and validated through the articles that report that adopted children are adapting well. Negative articles on international adoption of the mixed-race children are rarely found. On the other hand, articles that positively describe the condition of the adopted children can easily be found. Describing how well they live in good condition in adopted homes accounts for many cases in the early 1980s as well as in the 1950s.

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21 Kim Ok-Joo (4 years old) arrived in the United States in September 1955 and is

happily growing up as a daughter of Hanley Donberg, a San Francisco-based banker ... Choi Chun-Ae (4 years old) went to the United States in March 1954 with her new mother from Los Angeles, California… Now, three years later, Choi is growing healthy and happily (The Dong-a Ilbo, 1957).

The mixed-blooded orphans who adopted the United States are surprisingly well adapted to their new life and home... (The Dong-A Ilbo, 1959).

More than 90% of the mixed-blood children born in Korea and adopted by US families are adapting well to new American life and are starting a happy new life... (Bang, 1986)

In the early 1970s, when a large number of mixed-race Koreans reached adulthood, it was argued that it is necessary to exempt ”mixed blood” who could not be adopted as members of Korean society yet remained in Korea from military service to facilitate their emigration abroad (Kim, 2009) (Eom, 2016). In view of the possibility of discrimination, a mixed-race person can be distinguished from their appearance unless they are the mixed-race of Chinese or Japanese parents (Oh, 2009, p. 220). The fact that a mixed-race person is excluded from Korean society is most clearly revealed in the Korean conscription system. Until 2010, the conscription exemption was conducted by the subjective standard of appearance; if a person is perceived to have a ‘distinguished and differentiated look, he was exempt from military duty. The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs announced a report that they would exempt military enlistment of those who have ‘distinguished look’ and offer other vocational training because of their special circumstances. According to the report, “Their birth and appearance are very different, and it is difficult for them to adapt socially. Thus, they were put to perform a second military service member like a disabled person who cannot perform military service” (Kim, 2014, p. 285). Therefore, one could say that the deprivation of this conscription opportunity reflects the social perception that a mixed-race is not considered as a Korean but a foreigner. In the 1970s, as Korean society entered industrial society, many jobs started to be created. In the following articles, it is possible to figure out that the sending mixed-race children out to foreign countries was a preferable option over to giving them a chance of having a job and settling it in Korean society.

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22 The best way to protect the mixed blood is to adopt overseas until the age of thirteen, and to give special favour such as exemption from military service, and to find foreign donors (Sung, 1971).

"There is no place for us on this earth. It is our only hope to live in America… They have long since lost the idea that they are Koreans... (Kim, 1980).

The discourse around the mixed-race people in the newspapers in the 50s and 60s were mostly focused on the adoption issues of mixed-race children. On the other hand, in the late 70s, a few articles started to report about the mixed-race people who are successful singers or sports players. Likewise, in the late 2000s, the mixed-race often appeared in the media were mostly those who are successful with special talents such as sports players or singers.

However, the media argues that as successful celebrities or athlete do not represent the whole society, some small part of race people cannot represent the entire situation of mixed-race people. Nonetheless, the reason for their emphasis on the successful cases had to do with the treatment of mixed-race people who had difficulty in real life. Reports of mixed-race Koreans who had been adopted or migrated abroad also differed from before and after the fame of Hines Ward in 2006 (Lee, 2008, pp. 56-57). Compared to the past, there has been an increased number of articles reporting or interviewing the talented mixed race.

5.1.2 As ‘The Other’, Foreigners

As previously shown in Chunga Kang Kim’s study in previous research, some mixed-race face heightened discrimination over other mixed-race depending on their parents’ countries of origin, economic power, and ethnicity.

Even though the blood and flesh of a Korean are mixed, they are despised and shunned by Korean society (Seo, 1996).

The level of prejudice towards mixed-race persons could vary depending on the economic power of the countries of their parents. According to Lee (2011), Koreans discriminate against the other on the basis of their skin colour, while they have a sense of goodwill and inferiority toward white people. In the matter for those who have a similar skin colour as the

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23 majority of Koreans, Koreans tend to neglect them when they are from economically

disadvantaged countries. Koreans are favourable to the developed countries, but they show a dualism to the people of developing countries (Lee, 2011, p. 75). Most foreign migrant

workers, who are parents of certain mixed races, come from places such as China, Africa, and Southeast Asia, which are lower in economic status than Korea. In addition, many Southeast Asian women who have been married to Korean men often through marriage agencies because of the difficult economic situation in the region. The men of rural Korean areas who married them are also often in low socioeconomic status in Korean society. Both Korean men and migrant brides are at the bottom of the hierarchy, which also influenced the situation of their children. I was able to find articles that show there is a hierarchy among mixed people in the Korean media portrayal.

The black mixed children gathered at the branch office claiming that the executives such as James Puck, the leader, favoured white mixed children (The Dong-A Ilbo, 1969).

Sandy who says, "white mixed people are much less mocked then we are," rubbed her skin with steel wool and sand on the off chance when she was a child (Kim, 1978).

According to an article by Dong-A Ilbo in 2006 (Moon, 2006), Korean people would prefer to have a marriage with mixed white-Korean people over non-white-Korean mixed. When the respondents asked about marriage preference for mixed-race, the percentage of respondents who were white mixed race was 64.3%, but the response rate was low Asian mixed (25.6%) or black mixed (6.1%), suggesting that discrimination against the colour of mixed race exists. The articles about the different treatment of mixed-race people based on their appearance and hierarchy of mixed race are not particularly prevalent in one era but are evenly distributed throughout the times. In addition to that, the black adopted mixed-race children to the USA often failed to arrive at their new home during the adoption process and there were more cases of repatriation to Korea compared to white mixed children (Kim, 2009, p. 65). In a Dong-a Ilbo article (The Dong-A Ilbo, 1959), the writer argued that Korea is “a country where there is class discrimination but little racial discrimination” because of its geopolitical position, and racial issues are the result of World War II and after the Korean War. The article then points out that the most problematic racial discrimination in Korea is the problem of ‘black blood’

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24 due to “a simple life sentiment due to different views, rather than a reason for racial

discrimination or national bias”.

"It was about the beginning of '92. Park Il-Jun, a black mixed-singer, appeared on a TV talk show and revealed his past life. He said he had drunk a lot of milk when he was in junior high school. He thought if he drinks a lot of white milk, his skin would turn white. At that moment, the audience seats were filled with giggling laughs (Seo, 1996).

The words of a foreign worker who appeared on TV a while ago embarrass us. When a child in the subway asked, "Why is his face so dark?", then the mom said, “It is because he does not wash himself at all” (Choi, 2002).

Children born to Vietnamese, Japanese, and Chinese mothers get less ostracised due to their similar appearance to Koreans. However, there are cases where children born to Philippine mothers are sometimes referred to as ‘darkie’ as they have a relatively darker colour of skin (Bu, 2011). The social prejudices about the mixed-race people are mainly performed against the mixed-blooded people from the countries they believe to be are ‘backwards’ (Lee, 2011). However, there are articles that arouse attention to the social prejudice towards mixed

persons.

One is treated fine when they are assumed to be American by others, however, if perceived as mixed blood, contempt and ridicule emerges. There seems to be a more complex ‘psychological refraction’ on that ... If we are to live in the international community, we should try to get rid of this prejudice that our people are deeply rooted in at school for goodness' sake (The Dong-A Ilbo, 1968).

Lee (2011) argues that minority discrimination is not a result of individual psychology, but a phenomenon occurring at the social and collective level. Concerns and anxieties about the social problems of prejudice in the power struggle can be seen in the articles. According to an article of Dong-A in 2006, social prejudice and contempt towards mixed race are pushing them out of institutional education (Moon, et al., 2006). In fact, school adaptation failures due to the appearance of mixed-race people can lead to an abandonment of schoolwork,

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25 unemployment, and social conflicts (Nam, 2008). It can be seen that the figure of a mixed person with a weak political, economic, and social power is connected throughout the life of an individual (ibid)

One of these mixed-race workers says that they had to leave the workplace with tearful tears because they were not able to tolerate the profanity of the other workers, saying that “twigi (translated as half-bred) took our jobs” (The Dong-a Ilbo, 1974).

Mixed blood is regarded as just ‘surroundings’, which makes them intimidated and impulsive, unable to cope with things by the age of attending high school (Sung, 1971).

Another mixed-race boy who had low English grades at high school left school due to teacher’s teasing which says, “A foreign-looking guy does not even speak English properly” (The Dong-a Ilbo, 1974).

5.1.3 As Sympathised Victims

As I previously mentioned, there have been only a limited number of self-reflective opinions on discriminatory attitude towards mixed-race persons over time. Despite the small number of articles, these opinions are worth looking into as these represent the situation that mixed-race people had to go through. Moreover, the opinions often include criticism on the social problem of those days, which could contribute to improving the problems. There is an article of Dong-A in 1974, which drives the need for Koreans to change their attitude to people of mixed race. The article claims that due to the negative treatment they receive in Korean society, only 8.9% of the mixed-race children wish to stay in Korea, and 91.1% of them want to go to their father's or other countries.

It seems enough to realise what kind of treatment is being done to people of mixed race in Korean society. Mixed people say that they hate the country they cannot be included, and are resentful of the people that they cannot be united. It would be unbearable if one received such despair and disgrace from their workplace, social life, and at school just for being a mixed-race... Moreover, it is necessary to pay particular attention to the fact that those who want to leave the country do not simply wish to

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26 live abroad longing for life overseas, but for a right to live like a human being. If we cannot embrace the mixed-race children amount to less than 2,200, we will never be able to claim to be a humane nation. Such a society or people are not qualified to refer to humanitarianism, nor is there any qualification to address human rights and

discrimination… The Korean people have an exclusive temperament, but they should realise that mixed-race are not foreigners… Moreover, we should stop alienating mixed race to feel like a foreigner despite not being foreigners, and treating them disrespectfully (The Dong-a Ilbo, 1974).

“Can we also raise mixed-race children in Koreacheerfully? Are they given enough opportunities?” If you cannot answer “yes” to this question, we cannot really call it an open society (Kim, 2006).

It was not until 2006 that reflective opinions on discrimination towards mixed-race people started to emerge and prepare national policy alternatives. The articles say that we should change the viewpoint of the majority of mixed-race instead of just handling about a few successful mixed-race individuals. In addition to that, the military authorities also stipulated “no discrimination based on race, colour, or religion” in the military service regulations in 2010.

“I would like the public to share the interest shown to Hines Ward to other mixed-bloods living in Korea” However, while the mixed-blood living in Korea were happy about Ward’s success, they feel a sense of loss due to indifferent reality towards mixed race living in Korea while the success of the mixed-blood living in the United States was greatly emphasized. In addition, domestic mixed-race Koreans are

wondering if Ward could have succeeded if he had grown up in South Korea, where discrimination towards them is severe, hoping that attention to Ward becomes a turning point in changing the perception of mixed-race people (Lee, 2006).

Beginning in January of next year, if mixed persons with ‘apparently different look’ is found suitable for active service in the physical exam, they will have to perform military duties like ‘ordinary’ citizens (Yoon, 2010).

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5.2 What kind of ideas in Korean society affected the discourse on mixed blood?

5.2.1 ‘Us’ and ‘Others’, Pure-bloodism

In the above-mentioned social awareness, we could see how Korean society looked at the mixed-race people in the view of ‘others’. The reason why the process of ‘othering’ appeared has strongly to do with pure-bloodism which appeared in nationalism and collective

consciousness in Korean society. In other words, the sense of unity and bond has been strongly stressed in Korea. The Korean society group distinguishes 'us’ from ‘others’

regardless of age and education level based on family bloodlines, regional network and school network (Kim, 1995, p. 49). Sorting out the minority of ‘others’ from the majority of ‘us’ appear in the play of the children, and the articles of the reflection.

In the case of Korea … The blood tends to be treated so mysterious. There is a myth of drinking roe deer for nourishing the blood based on the myth that the soul is removed when the blood is subtracted, which has no scientific basis other than psychological effects. This blood-donation movement became mere talk for some of the parties and only sporadically happened in special cases. ... Most of the blood transfusion during the Korean war were forced to use 'blood of Americans' ... (The Donga-Ilbo, 1963).

The so-called ‘Widower Game’ is a group play that finds a friend who has something different and calls it 'widower' and gives a suitable reason for it…the game method of pointing out a person who is distinguished from the majority as a loner felt

uncomfortable for whatever reason ... When we watched a special program for mixed blood recently on TV, our immaturity of not being able to tolerate the difference was poignant (Ko, 1997).

In Korea, where pure bloodism is deeply rooted, mixed-blooded people are treated as ‘the abandoned’... they are despised and ostracized only for the reason of them being mixed- blood (Song, 2005).

In the 1960s, we can see how strong the nationalism of Korea is, which considers nationality when it comes to blood transfusions at the time. Lee (2011) explains the origin and formation

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28 process of the Korean idea of an ethnic nationalism through a history of invasion in Korea. According to Lee, until the traditional Korean state (Joseon 1392-1897, Empire of Korea 1897-1910), the concept of a single nation was neglected, and anyone living in the Korean Peninsula could be unified if they were ‘civilised’. This is because “the achievement of civilisation, rather than the concept of race or ethnicity” was a criterion to distinguish in-group from outin-group at that time. The Koreans in those days, regarded themselves and China as civilizations until the late Joseon Dynasty and considered the surrounding Jurchen and Japanese people as barbarians based on the Chinese concept that differentiates a culturally defined “China” from cultural barbarians (Lee, 2011, pp. 75-76). However, such concepts of pure bloodism and the single ethnic nation is a relative concept, not an absolute concept. Even though there are many people in Korea who do not believe in a mixture of blood, but war and ethnic migration always give birth to a mixed-race. Korea is geographically located between China and Japan, so it has repeatedly had repeated war against foreign countries over history and it is true that there was a mixed-blood relationship” (Nam, 2008, p. 100). Therefore, In the view, the ethnic identity of a single nation in Korea is the result of ‘givens’, the

inheritance of blood, custom and social practices, which form ‘ineffable’ bonds among the Korean people.

There is no big objection in academia that the concept of 'nation' and the term itself is a product of modern times... The concept of nation in Korea was introduced around 1905. Since Korea was deprived of its national sovereignty at this time, the mixed-race of a nation based on its existence had a great effect regardless of the state (Kim, et al., 2006).

In the early 1900s, "nation" was used to empower people, it is now a means of marginalising race people. The opposite word of mixed race, which is a word representing a mixed-race, is pure blood. The Korean obsession with the “pure blood” can be seen to originate from a single ethnic myth. From childhood through a fairy tale and oral story, the myth has become a stereotype of the exclusion of unconscious mixed blood. There is, of course, a

counterargument against a single nation, expressing concerns about the stereotypes of nationalism that came to have a negative meaning in society.

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29 There are myths in every nation and every country in the East and West. Sometimes this myth is not a verified fact. After these myths are established as stereotypes, they are believed as a ‘fact’ that nobody can deny. The representative example in Korean history is probably the logic of a 'single nation' ... In modern nationalism, the lineage is generally denied, and considering the current tendency to make the essence of the nation with the sense of unity, language, the lineage would not be a reason to

undermine the identity of the nation. Now, what is the point of cherishing bloodline, in the age of globalization where all (the name of mixed-race celebrities) live together? (Shin, 2001).

5.2.2 Jus sanguinis to the paternal line

Traditionally, the Korean family has formed a family-based paternal bloodline based on Confucianism. This shows a paternal-centred society of Korea even if Vietnam is a foreign country. In this social consciousness, it can be said that the social view was relentless on the most cases where the mother had to take care of a mixed child alone after the father left. Based on the family situation, some mixed-race had to suffer discrimination not only based on skin colour but also the presence of a father. The prevailing idea of sending mixed-race

children abroad to be adopted until the 1980s is also related to this patriarchy context in Korea. An article of Donga Ilbo in 1959 argues that, in order to ‘protect’ them, all the Korean people should help them to live a civilized life. Since all civilized nations follow ‘paternal bloodline’ instead of ‘maternal bloodline’, therefore the writer argues that we should send ‘mixed blood’ to ‘father's land’ and give them the right to live like other human beings (Kim, 2014, pp. 290-293).

Just like the GIs left Korea with mixed races in the 1950’s, Korean soldiers left Vietnam with mixed races in the 1970s. In the 1970's article on the mixed race left in Vietnam, there is a pitiful tone about how difficult ‘father-less mixed race’ in Vietnam are doing in the country. The article uses the expression of ‘Korean second generation’ in referring to the Korean Vietnamese mixed race instead of just calling them ‘mixed race’. In the 1990s, there was also a growing public opinion to help Korean- Vietnamese mixed children in Vietnam, as Korea is the country of a father in this case.

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30 … support for these second generations (Korean-Vietnamese mixed) seems to be a matter of active interest not only to the people directly involved but also to the Korean government and social organisations… (Han, 1991).

The long tradition of paternalism in Korean society is not only showing in the era of Confucianism but also in mid-2000.In addition, the appearance of a “mixed race” strongly presupposes the absence of a father so important in patriarchal societies. Even if a mixed child born has a Korean father, the child is relatively less exposed to discrimination compared to those who have a non-Korean father. Kang (2011) describes the othering process of the mixed race who has US soldiers as fathers and Koreans as mothers as a ‘genderised discrimination’. Until the 1970s, according to the nationality law, a mixed-race could not become a citizen. A mixed-race born between a mother of a Korean national and a father of a foreign nationality did not have a paternal origin in Korea, and therefore could not have a Korean nationality (Kim, 2009). Until 2005, the representative of the family in the family register under the civil law, the head of a family was the only male, and the family of the head was transferred only to the male through the blood, from son to father. In addition to discrimination due to

appearance, mixed-race people could not have official maternal relationships with mothers in the family register.

Yu-Jin Lee's parents got married in 1976 and gave birth to Yu-jin the next year, but they divorced two years later. Yu-jin was on the family register of his maternal grandfather, so legally she was her mother’s sister (Kim, 2003).

“Although mixed races should be able to freely choose their nationality between both their mother’s and father’s, it is difficult for them to have anyone...” (Kim, 1983)

If a mixed-race person reaches over the age of 16, it is impossible to adopt overseas, so those who failed to settle in Korea decide to immigrate to their father's country. As a matter of fact, the Korean nationality law is based on Jus sanguinis to the paternal line; if one gets the mother 's surname, the Korean nationality will not be recognised. The Pearl Buck Foundation surveyed 857 people last year and found that the highest number of cases, 329 people, were followed by the mother's last name.

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31 The amendment to the Nationality Act, introduced by the Ministry of Justice,

encompasses a monotonous transformation of jus sanguinis to paternal line into both lines of parents ... The international marriage is increasing due to the increase of international migration, and the revision of the nationality law is inevitable in terms of protection of basic rights, such as receiving medical insurance for children born to foreign fathers and Korean mothers (The Dong-A Ilbo, 1997).

6 Concluding remarks

6.1 Conclusion

This paper has dealt with the portrayal of mixed-race Korean people in Korean society at different time periods by looking at Korean newspaper articles from Donga Ilbo and

Kyunghyang Shinmun. The analysis was made in connection with the theoretical frames of critical discourse analysis and the concept of ‘othering’ within the contextual background of Korea. The discourse surrounding mixed race in Korea, as discussed in the literature review, shows that mixed-race are often stigmatised and discriminated as ‘others’ in the society. The two research questions came up to help analyse the discord around mixed-race in Korea; First, how the newspapers in South Korea have portrayed “Mixed blood” and how is the discourse around the mixed-race has changed over history?; Second, what kind of ideas of an Korean national identity affected the discourse on “mixed-blood”?

The results of the first research study are as follows. The discourse about mixed race in Korean society has changed over time. In the 1950s with the flow of the US military, the mixed race was seen as an alien to be adopted abroad, and to this day they have been treated as a minority with discriminatory treatment. After the Vietnam War in the 1970s, another social issue of mixed races increased the public interest of Korean mixed races. Moreover, this paper explored that the mixed-race may be subject to different discrimination depending on the parents’ economic requirements and skin colour. However, social perceptions of mixed race are not just stagnant in negative perceptions; there is also a reflective view of criticizing a society that views this mixed-race negatively. In sum, mixed races in Korea were seen as an unwanted nuisance, as outsider ‘others’ as opposed to Korean 'us', and as a victim with reflective views in the newspaper portrayals.

In-between the National and the Foreigner: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the “half-bloods” in South Korean Newspaper