Public Relations Review 30 (2004) 327–333

South Koreans’ perceptions of North Koreans and

implications for public relations campaigns
Miejeong Han a,∗ , Sei-Hill Kim b
a
Department of Advertising & Public Relations, Hanyang University, 1271 Sa-1 dong,
Ansan, Kyunggi-do, 425-791, South Korea
b
Department of Communication & Journalism, Auburn University, 217 Tichenor Hall,
Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA

Received 9 September 2003; received in revised form 9 March 2004; accepted 19 April 2004

Abstract

Analyzing data from a telephone survey of South Korean respondents, we explored public campaign strategies
for relationship building between South and North Koreas. We examined three important questions essential for the
relationship building: What are the typical images of the North that South Koreans find in the media? How do South
Koreans perceive North Koreans? Do such perceptions guide their intention to integrate with North Koreans? Our
findings may provide important insights in developing communication agenda and message strategies, particularly
for policy makers and public communication practitioners, whose efforts aim to build a favorable relationship
between the South and the North.
© 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

South and North Koreas have been separated for over 50 years since the split in 1945. The South and
the North have employed dramatically different political and economic systems, and people in these two
countries, as a result, have developed a strong sense of disparity toward each other. Tangible efforts,
however, have been made toward an integration of the South and the North since the monumental summit
talk in 2000 between the leaders of two countries. Despite the unpredictable and hostile nature of the
North Korean regime, South Koreans have consistently supported humanitarian aid projects to the North,
demonstrating rather favorable attitudes toward a variety of economic and diplomatic efforts to facilitate

∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 31 400 5427.
E-mail address: mjhan909@hanyang.ac.kr (M. Han).

0363-8111/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2004.04.004
328 M. Han, S.-H. Kim / Public Relations Review 30 (2004) 327–333

a more intimate relationship with North Korea.1 The majority of the South Korean public has supported
reunification with the North, expecting that the two countries would come up with a reasonable and
feasible method of integration (Ji, 2001). According to a national poll, conducted by Joongang Daily in
September 2002, a large majority of South Koreans (70.1%) supported reunification with the North, and
about 51.3% believed that reunification would bring mutual benefits to both countries.
Recently, Han (2002) has argued that since South and North Koreans have lived in radically different
social systems over 50 years, psychological integration should be established first in order to facilitate the
process of reunification. That is, both countries should make an extra effort to enhance mutual understand-
ing of each other before they are eventually unified into a single nation. Nationwide public campaigns,
Han suggested, should be set up first for working toward building a nation unified psychologically as
well as physically. Taylor (2000) maintains that governments could utilize communication campaigns as
a valuable resource for nation building. Studies show that public communication campaigns have been
used as an effective tool for nation building in many countries (e.g., Bruning, 2002; Pratt, 1985; Van
Leuven, 1996). Researchers have claimed that public campaigns may play an important role particularly
in solving a variety of social and development problems associated with nation building (e.g., Taylor &
Botan, 1997).
Relationship is a key concept in public relations approaches to nation building (Taylor, 2000). Relation
building is the focus of public communications efforts (Ferguson, 1984), and provides a basis for mea-
suring the effectiveness of public campaigns (Ledingham, 2001). Tangible goals of public relations, as
Kovacs (2001) argues, can be attained only by developing and maintaining a successful relationship with
the public. This study looks into the relationship between previously unrelated or rarely-related people
of South and North Koreas. As Ferguson (1984) maintains, the first step towards relationship building
requires learning about relevant publics and their social environment. Ledingham and Bruning (2000)
also state that a successful relationship management depends on understanding what must be done to
initiate, develop, and maintain the relationship. In this study, we explore how South Koreans (i.e., the
target public) perceive the North, and where they stand on important issues relevant to the reunification.
Little is known about how South Koreans perceive North Koreans. Furthermore, little research has
been done as to whether these perceptions may explain South Koreans’ intention to integrate with the
North. South Koreans have had very limited contact with North Koreans.2 Besides what they see in the
media, South Koreans seldom have other sources of information about people in the North. In this study,
therefore, we first examine the typical images of the North that South Koreans find in the media. In order
to identify public communication issues, we then explore how South Koreans perceive North Koreans.
Finally, we look into whether these perceptions influence South Koreans’ intention to integrate with the
North. We discuss some implications for public campaigns, making suggestions for relationship building
between the South and the North.

1
The Sunshine policy, a reunification policy of the South Korean government, proposes that the government should provide
the North with extensive political and economic support as a way to improve the living conditions of North Koreans and,
more importantly, to promote peace on the Korean peninsula. Since his inauguration in 1998, the South Korean president Kim,
Dae-Jung and his administration have pursued the policy in a variety of fields, such as economic cooperation, social and cultural
exchanges, and other humanitarian aid projects to the North. In 2003, the new Roh, Moo-Hyun administration has announced
the Peace and Prosperity policy that essentially parallels the major framework of the Sunshine policy.
2
It is illegal for South Koreans to make any social or economic exchanges with North Koreans, including any forms of
communication and reunion of separated family members without government permission, which is issued only scarcely.
 M. Han, S.-H. Kim / Public Relations Review 30 (2004) 327–333 329

2. Research questions and hypotheses

Mass media play an important role in shaping people’s perceptions of different social groups (Fujioka,
1999; Tan, Fujioka, & Lucht, 1997). Given the little direct contact with North Koreans, we believe, South
Koreans may rely heavily on what they see on television and what they read in newspapers in forming their
perceptions of North Koreans. We, therefore, first explore what South Koreans find in media coverage of
the North. We put forth the following research question:
RQ1 : What are the typical images of the North that South Koreans find in the media?
We also examine how South Koreans perceive North Koreans on a number of attributes important
to relationship building. Effective campaign messages can be generated from understanding what the
South Korean public thinks of the other public in question. Positive attributes, for example, should be
incorporated into campaign messages, whereas negative ones ought to be dealt with caution to avoid
potential stereotyping. Our second research question deals with South Koreans’ perceptions of North
Koreans.
RQ2 : How do South Koreans perceive people in the North?
These perceptions may function as stereotypical representations of North Koreans. Studies have sug-
gested that stereotypical – usually negatively valenced – perceptions of a group may influence individuals’
ongoing attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors toward the group (Hsu & Lee, 2002; Mauer, Park, & Rothbart,
1995; Power, Murphy, & Coover, 1996). In this study, we examine whether these perceptions influence
South Koreans’ intention to integrate with North Koreans on a variety of social and political issues. We
test the following hypotheses:

H1. Positive perceptions of North Koreans will be associated with greater intention to integrate with
them.

H2. Negative perceptions of North Koreans will be associated with less intention to integrate with them.

3. Methods

Data for this study came from a telephone survey of the residents in Anyang, South Korea. Our sampling
was based on a random-digit dialing (RDD) technique. A total of 443 respondents were interviewed
between 20 April and 6 June 2002, with a cooperation rate of 46 percent.
We used an open-ended question to examine respondents’ impressions of North Koreans depicted in the
media (Media Portrayals of North Koreans). Respondents were asked to talk about the typical images of
North Koreans they had found in TV programs and newspapers. Two independent coders content-analyzed
a total of 731 comments for further examination. Inter-coder agreement was .91.
As a measure of Perceptions of North Koreans, respondents rated, on a five-point scale (1 = not at
all, 5 = very much), 10 adjectives as characteristics of North Koreans. These adjectives included five
positive characteristics (diligent, trustworthy, independent, ethical, intelligent) and five negative ones
(authoritarian, narrow-minded, uneducated, criminal, hostile). As a comparison basis, we also had our
respondents rate South Koreans on the same characteristic items.
330 M. Han, S.-H. Kim / Public Relations Review 30 (2004) 327–333

Respondents were asked to indicate their intention to integrate with North Koreans if two Koreas are
reunified into one nation. We asked respondents whether they agreed or disagreed (1 = strongly disagree,
5 = strongly agree) with seven statements, which tapped a variety of social and political issues regarding
the integration.3 These seven measures were combined into a single index (alpha = .67) representing
respondents’ intention to integrate with North Koreans (Intention to Integrate with North Koreans).
For control purposes, we measured respondents’ political ideology and their personal interest in the
issue of Korean reunification. We also measured demographic variables, including respondents’ age (year
of birth, M = 1960.65, S.D. = 14.01), gender (58.4% female), education (the highest degree completed,
high school diploma as median), and income (median monthly income between Korean Won 1 and 2
million).

4. Findings

4.1. Media portrayals of North Koreans

Our first research question deals with media portrayals of North Koreans. When our respondents were
asked about impressions of North Koreans depicted in the media, the most frequent comment they gen-
erated was sympathy toward North Koreans. More than a half (53.2%) of comments were about feeling
sympathetic to North Koreans and their living conditions. The next frequently-mentioned comment was
negative characteristics of North Koreans (e.g., liars, cruel), accounting for about 10.7% of the total com-
ments, whereas only about 3.8% mentioned positive images (e.g., innocent, artistic, good people). Also
frequently mentioned (6.2%) was the feeling of disparity between South and North Koreans. Perceptions
of similarity, however, accounted for only about 2.3% of the total comments.
In summary, our content analysis shows that South Koreans have perceived from the media that North
Koreans are deprived in many ways and they are in a serious need for help. Our analysis also indicates that
South Koreans have found negative, rather than positive, images of North Koreans in the media. Finally,
we found that South Koreans have formed an impression, from the media, that North Koreans are quite
different from themselves.

4.2. South Koreans’ perceptions of North Koreans

To examine how South Koreans perceive North Koreans (RQ2), we had our respondents evaluate North
Koreans on a variety of attributes. They also evaluated South Koreans on the same characteristics (see
Table 1). On negative attributes, South Koreans perceived that North Koreans were less authoritarian,
less criminal, and less hostile than themselves. This finding is quite surprising, given that North Korea
has often been depicted as hostile, repressive, and belligerent. North Koreans were also judged to be
less educated and more narrow-minded than South Koreans. On positive attributes, respondents rated

3
These seven statements include: “It is desirable in many respects for children from the South and the North to attend the
same school”; “It would be better to hire a South Korean than a North Korean if their qualifications and skills are compatible”;
“The President of the unified government should come from South Korea”; “It is more desirable to marry a South Korean than
someone from the North”; “If necessary, I and my family are willing to move to the North and live there”; “I have no problem
with being hired by a North Korean”; “I support having North Koreans as my neighbors.”
 M. Han, S.-H. Kim / Public Relations Review 30 (2004) 327–333 331

Table 1
Comparison between perceptions of North and South Koreans (2002, N = 443)
Perceptions North Koreans South Koreans t

Negative attributes
Authoritarian 2.54 3.48 −12.03∗∗∗
Narrow-minded 3.73 2.39 16.78∗∗∗
Uneducated 3.12 1.93 16.26∗∗∗
Criminal 2.99 3.28 −4.33∗∗∗
Hostile 2.78 2.94 −2.24∗
Positive attributes
Diligent 3.50 3.38 1.51
Trustworthy 2.49 2.87 −5.61∗∗∗
Independent 2.75 3.27 −7.00∗∗∗
Ethical 2.97 2.86 1.85
Intelligent 2.32 3.34 −16.45∗∗∗
∗∗∗
P < .001; ∗∗ P < .01; ∗ P < .05.

that North Koreans were less trustworthy, less independent, and less intelligent than themselves. These
differences were all statistically significant.

4.3. Intention to integrate with North Koreans

Our two hypotheses examine whether South Koreans’ perceptions of the North influence their inten-
tion to integrate with North Koreans. Respondents’ intention was predicted using a multiple regression
model, which included demographics, political ideology, personal interest in the unification issues, and
perceptions of North Koreans (10 attribute measures). Supporting our hypotheses, we found that percep-
tions had significant impacts. Perceptions of North Koreans as trustworthy (β = .11), ethical (β = .11),
and intelligent (β = .14) indicated significant positive relationships to the intention. Perceiving North
Koreans as criminal (a negative attribute), on the other hand, showed a negative relationship (β = −.19).

5. Suggestions for relationship building campaigns

Our findings about media portrayals of North Koreans suggest that the South Korean media need to
make an extra effort to feature North Koreans in a more positive light. This is not to say that the media
should exclude any information that can give out negative impressions of the North, but to say that they
should provide more balanced portrayals of North Koreans. Positive media presentations of the North
would smooth the integration process between South and North Koreans.
Our respondents often indicated feelings of disparity toward North Koreans. This may have an impor-
tant implication for developing message strategies of relation building campaigns. We suggest that key
messages of the campaigns emphasize similarities between the South and the North, rather than differ-
ences, which in turn help narrow the perceived disparity. Relationship building campaigns, for example,
may highlight the common heritage shared by the two countries. Recently, the South Korean government
332 M. Han, S.-H. Kim / Public Relations Review 30 (2004) 327–333

has launched a public tour program to Kumgang Mountain in North Korea. As a way to bring out more
common interests, the government has also made an effort to facilitate sports and arts exchanges with
the North. Such programs, if properly promoted, can provide South Koreans with opportunities to expe-
rience greater familiarity with North Koreans, which in turn may contribute to building a more favorable
relationship.
We also found that our respondents exhibited rather ambivalent perceptions of North Koreans. They
generally perceived that North Koreans are less hostile, criminal, and authoritarian than themselves. At
the same time, however, they saw themselves as more intelligent, independent, and trustworthy than North
Koreans. These findings may indicate that despite the negative propaganda they have received in the past,
South Koreans now make rather lenient evaluations of North Koreans. Traditionally, North Koreans have
been depicted as hostile, cruel, and belligerent. More recently, however, they are presented as helpless and
vulnerable especially in the media. South Koreans, therefore, may not feel as threatened by North Korea
as they have before. This trend may provide a good opportunity for relationship building campaigns as
South Koreans become more open to knowing and understanding North Koreans.
Finally, our findings show that the way South Koreans perceive the North has significant effects on their
intention to integrate with North Koreans. We recommend that campaign messages focus on characterizing
North Koreans as intelligent, trustworthy, and ethical. Our data analyses indicate that these attributes,
among others, are important considerations when South Koreans form their intention to integrate with
people in the North. We also found that South Koreans were significantly concerned about the potential
criminal nature of North Koreans. This may come from the lack of direct experience with North Koreans
or the lack of feeling that “they are just similar to us.” In order to facilitate South Koreans’ intention to
integrate with the North, public campaigns should make an extra effort to deal with this particular image.
Campaigns may also need to provide more accurate information about everyday lives in the North, which
are essentially similar to those of South Koreans.
We explored public campaign strategies for relationship building between South and North Koreas,
looking at media portrayals of North Koreans, South Koreans’ perceptions of North Koreans, and their
intention to integrate with people in the North. Our findings may provide important considerations in
formulating communication agenda and message strategies, particularly for policy makers and public
communication practitioners, whose efforts aim to build a more favorable relationship between the South
and the North.

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