A Study of Ideological Communication in the Storytelling of Popular Korean Series in South Korea and Thailand in the Digital Era

Abstract

Narratives are the basis of powerful communication. The entertainment industry, e.g., series or TV drama production, is another required basis to present narratives that can access viewers’ minds and feelings in a wide range. Korean series are an entertainment form that is popular worldwide, including in Thailand. Thus, the key objectives of the study of ideological communication for storytelling of popular Korean series in the digital era in South Korea and Thailand were to decrypt ideologies or mindsets through series and to analyze the elements of storytelling that connected to the social context and social construction of reality. This is qualitative research based on textual analysis of 5 Korean series with all-time highest ratings including Sky Castle (2019) Queen of Tears (2024) Crash Landing on You (2020) Reborn Rich (2022) The World of the Married (2022). The results revealed ideologies that were presented and focused on through these series as follows. The first issue was criticism and questioning about the educational system. The next one was marriage and work, followed by the differences in political ideologies, fighting against power and social injustice. The last issue was restoring and maintaining almost broken families. As for the elements of storytelling, these popular series were outstanding for full-flavored dramas. The created characters were mainly focused on the roles of females rather than males. More specifically, female characters embraced the roles of leadership and strong fighters. Conflicts in the series included fighting against social values, e.g., education, divorce, and injustice, and mainly relied on third-party storytelling. Settings, scripts, wording, pictures, and camera angles were realistic. The presented ideologies could connect to the social context and were considered as the social construction of reality that was questioned or criticized for social problems. Furthermore, it illustrates the influential communicative force of South Korea’s cultural wave, which has emerged as a powerful form of soft power with a global reach.