Talking With the 'Hermit Regime'| What’s Going on in the Korean Peninsula? A Study on Perception and Influence of South and North Korea-Related Fake News

Authors

  • Yoo Jung Oh University of California Davis USA
  • Ji Youn Ryu Korea University
  • Hee Sun Park Korea University

Keywords:

fake news, inter-Korean relations, the third-person effect (TPE), the first-person effect (FPE), media censorship

Abstract

Fake news, which contains false information to deceive audiences, may potentially influence inter-Korean relations. Two studies probe into South Koreans’ experience of and reaction to fake news exposure, and their ability to distinguish fake news from real news. Study 1 reveals that people have negative attitudes for fake news and perceive its impact to be greater on others than on themselves. Study 2 tests hypotheses based on the third-person effect (TPE) and the first-person effect (FPE), discovering that South Koreans display the TPE on North Korea-related fake news and advocate fake news censorship. It also examines Korean citizens’ ability to identify North Korea–related fake news and finds that most people fail to do so accurately despite considering that fake news will have a relatively small impact on themselves. We conclude that different agents should cooperate to reduce the negative impact of fake news.

Author Biographies

Yoo Jung Oh, University of California Davis USA

Graduate Student, CommunicationUniversity of California DavisUSA

Ji Youn Ryu, Korea University

Graduate student, Media and CommunicationKorea UniversitySouth Korea

Hee Sun Park, Korea University

Professor, School of Media & Communication

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Published

2020-02-23

Issue

Vol. 14 (2020)

Section

Special Sections

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