Cultivating Freedom in South Korea: Media Discourse on Chayu during the Early Park Chung-hee Period

This article analyzes the notion of freedom under Park Chung-hee’s regime by examining media representations of freedom in South Korean newspapers during the early period of Park’s regime from 1964 to 1970. The analysis of the media discourse of freedom brings to light the complex mechanisms of Park’s dictatorship and South Koreans’ participation in mobilization projects under Park’s regime. I argue that the notion of freedom played an essential role in the way in which Park’s regime produced and mobilized dutiful, productive citizens. By appropriating conflicting media representations of freedom, Park’s regime defined South Korea’s own ideal of freedom within the contexts of Cold War South Korea in the 1960s. Whilst Park’s regime assured South Korea’s enjoyment of freedom in contrast to communist countries, Park’s regime convinced South Koreans that freedom in South Korea cannot be same as in other western countries. Specifically, in the name of South Korea’s urgent missions of economic development and national security against communism, Park’s regime claimed South Koreans should practice freedom in a responsible, restricted manner. Hence, this article highlights that Park’s regime utilized the notion of freedom in a way to turn South Koreans into citizens who believed themselves to be free, yet who acted responsibly to serve national interests against communism. By illuminating the notion of freedom under Park’s regime, this article discusses both the conditional, limited nature of mass participation under Park’s regime and how the regime used the complex, specific conditions of Cold War South Korea to create mass participation.