SDF

It has been 35 years since the political democratization of South Korea, and five years since the peaceful protests of the so-called “candlelight revolution.” The country’s democracy has been shaped over an arduous journey. But Lee argues that the nation’s democracy is again facing a crisis - one driven primarily by hatred toward other people and extreme conflicts among members of society. Hate is dangerous not only because it is morally and ethically wrong, but because it drives us to work harder to deny the rights of others than to fully exercise our own, and compromises diversity and free speech, values that buttress democracy. This is why Lee uses the term “emotional power” and ascribes it as much significance as political and economic power. Lee seeks to convey how the problems of emotion are complicatedly interwoven into the fabric of our communities by sharing real-life stories from his experience as a journalist. As he puts it, “Journalists are at the frontlines of the manufacture, distribution, and consumption of emotion within a community.” It may very well be that the current “crisis” of emotion cannot be properly explained without the reflection of journalists and media outlets on their modus operandi.