중국 인터넷 토론 공간에서의 북한 및 북핵 문제 인식

Abstract

Since the official incorporation of China into the internet system in 1994, the internet has evolved as both an outlet and an organizational medium for differing views on a variety of social agendas. Within this space today, North Korea and the North Korean Nuclear issue represent a particularly hot topic. Discussions conducted on representative community sites such as Tianya, Mop, Wuyouzhixiang reveal key differences that reflect the primary orientations of these sites as well as demographic characteristics of the user communities. In the case of Tianya, whose major user group consists of the highly educated, discussions about North Korea and the North Korean nuclear problem demonstrate a practical approach, with several examples revealing analytical depth and a degree of expertise regarding Sino-American relations and East Asian current affairs. Mop, which markets itself as a portal for entertainment-related news, features discussion threads that show post-ideological attitudes characteristic of the younger generation and negative views toward North Korea in general. Travel accounts and other personal experiences expressed by individual users, however, introduce diversity into the negative characterizations of North Korea, thereby functioning to correct the overall bias. Wuyouzhixiang, identified heavily with the Maoist Left, demonstrates a tendency to idealize North Korea by projecting onto its society the lost socialist past of China. Charting the discussions across these three internet communities, we can understand the range and variety of the internal Chinese debates about North Korea and the North Korean nuclear issue. The examination further reinforces the importance of paying adequate attention to unofficial and latent perspectives that animate the popular discursive space below the exposed plane of policy and diplomacy in our discussions with China on the subject of North Korea and the North Korean nuclear issue.