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The Discourse of Anti-Communism in the First Issue of 1950s Magazines

IMSUJEONG 1 Hye-Eun Lee 1

1숙명여자대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In 1950s temporary division of Korea became permanent following the Korean War, and the South Korean government established an ideology of anti-communism to infuse anti-communist sentiments across social and cultural spectrum. With this historical background, this study investigated the discourse of anti-communism in 1950s magazines which were accessible media to a general audience. For this, the situation of publishing magazines in this period was examined, and copyright papers together with editorials of first issues of 380 magazines launched in 1950s were analyzed. Analysis shows that only 74 magazines contained “Our Oaths” fixed by the Publication Registration Law at that time and there are 13 magazines including anti-communism texts. It is confirmed that magazine publishers were reluctant to accommodate the requirement of the government on the anti-communism. The first reason is that there existed the freedom of press against pressure from the government at that time. Second, the government’s demand was not widely accepted by the public and the intellectual. In conclusion, it is understood that Korean government intended to heighten the anti-communist sentiment in the political culture of the 1950s, while anti-communism was far from public interest with the sprouting democracy in the society.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.