Remaking a Transborder Nation in North Korea:Media Representation in the Korean Peace Process

Abstract

Recently, North Korean media has engendered greater connectedness with the outside world. One important goal of the North Korean regime is to create ties with Koreans living outside the country through its official website. Analyzing media representation of a transborder Korean nation, this article discusses the shifts that have occurred in the recent context of the peace process on the Korean peninsula. I argue that the transborder nation- building in North Korean official media reveals a hybrid form of patriotism and nationalism that juxtaposes loyalty to the nation and loyalty to the state. North Korean media thus emerges as a critical site where the two loyalties coexist, demonstrating an attempt to provide the impression of a whole—albeit divided and dispersed—Korean nation.