Comparative Analysis of Historical National Image Advertising in Korea – Video Advertisements Produced between 1998-2017

Since national image video advertisements are a means of public relations with wide delivery and major repercussions at home and abroad, this study performs a comparative analysis of video advertisements aired by previous governments as reported by Daejung Kim, Moohyun Roh, Myungbak Lee, and Geunhye Park. The characteristics of the previous governments, whether or not social trends were reflected, and the importance of traditional and modern elements were examined. As we describe, there are clear differences in video advertisements by government regime, and while messages expressing traditional values of Eastern culture have gradually decreased, reflecting the trends of the times, the messages emphasizing the modern values of the West have gradually increased. Our research confirmed that traditional elements such as 'Samulnori' and 'Taekwondo' are gradually disappearing. In addition, it was confirmed that the collective values, traditional values, and humanism represented by the 'large crowd' and 'traditional elements' in the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administration changed in the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations to more individualistic, materialistic, Western values. This study is meaningful in that it analyzed the components and characteristics of national image advertisements by governments in the past, how social trends were reflected, and the weight difference between traditional and modern elements. Based on this research, the significance of the current Moon Jae-in government’s groundwork for follow-up research should not be understated.