Talking With the 'Hermit Regime'| What’s Going on in the Korean Peninsula? A Study on Perception and Influence of South and North Korea-Related Fake News

Abstract

Fake news, which contains false information to deceive audiences, may potentially influence inter-Korean relations. Two studies probe into South Koreans’ experience of and reaction to fake news exposure, and their ability to distinguish fake news from real news. Study 1 reveals that people have negative attitudes for fake news and perceive its impact to be greater on others than on themselves. Study 2 tests hypotheses based on the third-person effect (TPE) and the first-person effect (FPE), discovering that South Koreans display the TPE on North Korea-related fake news and advocate fake news censorship. It also examines Korean citizens’ ability to identify North Korea–related fake news and finds that most people fail to do so accurately despite considering that fake news will have a relatively small impact on themselves. We conclude that different agents should cooperate to reduce the negative impact of fake news.