A Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage on Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in South Korea

Background/Purpose

Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women remains a persistent and deeply rooted social issue in South Korea, with significant implications for public health, gender equity, and social welfare systems. The news media, as a key shaper of public discourse, are powerful influencers of social attitudes, stigmatization of survivors, as well as policymaking. The news media, however, portray IPV narrowly in a way that de-couples it from structural causes such as gender-based violence as a system as well as patriarchal norms. This study investigates how South Korean newspapers frame IPV, portray victims and perpetrators, as well as whether the overlying structural cause—patriarchal norms as well as gender inequality—gets any kind of reference. It also examines changes in coverage over time, especially in relation to policy or legal developments.

Methods

Using a mixed-methods content analysis, this study analyzed 17,954 news articles from 11 major Korean national newspapers published between 2020 and 2024, accessed via the BIGKinds database. Articles were identified using targeted Korean-language keywords related to IPV and filtered for relevance to female victims and intimate partners. A coding scheme was developed combining deductive codes informed by feminist media theory with inductive themes drawn from a pilot review. Categories included: type of IPV, framing, representation of victims and perpetrators, presence of sensationalism, mention of societal context, and sources cited. Inter-coder reliability was ensured using Cohen’s Kappa. Quantitative data were analyzed through frequency counts and longitudinal trend analysis, while qualitative data were examined using thematic content analysis.

Results

Of the 17,954 articles analyzed, the majority (62.4%) focused on individual cases of IPV, primarily physical violence against women. Only 18.7% employed thematic framing that linked incidents to broader structural issues such as gender inequality or patriarchy. Victims were often depicted as passive (56.2%), with few articles (12.8%) highlighting survivor agency. Perpetrators were mostly individualized, with limited acknowledgment (9.6%) of coercive control or systemic male dominance. Sensationalistic language was present in 35.4% of articles, and expert or academic sources were cited in only 11.3%, compared to frequent reliance on law enforcement sources (68.5%). Legal or policy developments appeared in 21.9% of articles, often linked to high-profile cases. Overall, the media tended to portray IPV as isolated events, with little attention to structural and gendered dimensions of violence.

Conclusions/Implications

The study reveals that Korean newspaper coverage of IPV against women often lacks structural framing and tends to focus on isolated incidents. This limited framing reduces public understanding of IPV as a gendered power-based issue. Underreporting of structural causes through limited thematic framing undermines public awareness and limits public understanding of IPV as a social justice issue rooted in inequality and patriarchy. These findings highlight the need for clearer media guidelines and targeted journalist training to encourage more accurate, trauma-informed, and contextually grounded reporting. For social work practitioners, educators, and advocates, we highlight the importance of engaging with media professionals, contributing to public discourse, and advocating for media literacy as part of a comprehensive strategy to prevent IPV and promote survivor-centered, culturally responsive interventions.