@article{ART003321530},
author={Jegal, Deog-ju},
title={A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures},
journal={The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea},
issn={1226-4822},
year={2026},
volume={34},
number={1},
pages={303-336}
TY - JOUR
AU - Jegal, Deog-ju
TI - A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures
JO - The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea
PY - 2026
VL - 34
IS - 1
PB - The Sociolinguistic Society Of Korea
SP - 303
EP - 336
SN - 1226-4822
AB - This study analyzes the “gapjil” culture recurrently observed in Korean society not as a matter of individual personality or ethical deviance, but as a communicative structure in which social power asymmetry is enacted and reproduced through language. While previous studies have approached gapjil primarily at the institutional, legal, and ethical levels, this study focuses on the linguistic forms through which gapjil is realized in actual interaction. To this end, this study provides a macro-level review of the background and major situational contexts in which the gapjil language arises, centering on social settings where the hierarchy operates strongly, such as workplaces, the military, and schools, and qualitatively analyzes recurring types of linguistic expressions, including unreasonable task imposition, responsibility shifting, standard shifting, and implicit coercion of obedience. The analysis shows that gapjil operates less through explicit commands than through the shifting of responsibility, fluidization of standards, and naturalization of obedience, confirming that it is not a problem of individuals’ communicative competence, but a discourse pattern activated by structural conditions. This study suggests that resolving the gapjil culture requires, beyond improving individual ethics, redesigning communication structures and evaluation systems and it repositions how power relations operate through language from a sociolinguistic perspective.
KW - Gapjil culture;language and power;sociolinguistics;qualitative research;communication structure;power asymmetry;responsibility shifting
DO -
UR -
ER -
Jegal, Deog-ju. (2026). A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 34(1), 303-336.
Jegal, Deog-ju. 2026, "A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures", The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, vol.34, no.1 pp.303-336.
Jegal, Deog-ju "A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures" The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 34.1 pp.303-336 (2026) : 303.
Jegal, Deog-ju. A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures. 2026; 34(1), 303-336.
Jegal, Deog-ju. "A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures" The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 34, no.1 (2026) : 303-336.
Jegal, Deog-ju. A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 34(1), 303-336.
Jegal, Deog-ju. A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea. 2026; 34(1) 303-336.
Jegal, Deog-ju. A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures. 2026; 34(1), 303-336.
Jegal, Deog-ju. "A linguacultural analysis of the linguistic construction and reproduction of “gapjil” culture in Korean society: Focusing on power asymmetry and communication structures" The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 34, no.1 (2026) : 303-336.
