Volume 17, Number 1/2

Analysis of Media Coverage and Activation Strategies for the Suwon HWASEONG Cultural Festival

  Authors

Jihyun Paek and Yesol Seo , Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea

  Abstract

This study examines media coverage of the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival through a semantic network–based discourse analysis framework grounded in cultural agenda-setting theory. While prior festival studies have primarily focused on economic impacts and visitor satisfaction, this research analyzes how media narratives structure public understanding of the festival over time. Using the BIGKinds news platform, 81 news articles published between 2014 and 2023 were collected and examined through keyword frequency analysis, co-occurrence network modeling, TopicRank-based weighted keyword extraction, and longitudinal trend analysis. Rather than constructing a formal knowledge graph infrastructure, this study interprets keyword networks as discursive structures that reveal relational patterns among dominant themes such as “Suwon City,” “King Jeongjo,” and “Citizen-led Festival.” The findings indicate fluctuating media attention, with a peak in 2017, a significant decline during the COVID19 pandemic, and partial recovery thereafter. The network structure highlights the dominance of historical identity and regional branding themes, while participatory governance and economic sustainability appear as secondary but structurally meaningful clusters. Methodologically, the study demonstrates how semantic network analysis of news data can support cultural policy interpretation and agenda-setting evaluation. By integrating co-occurrence modeling and weighted keyword ranking, the research provides a structured approach to understanding media discourse surrounding regional cultural events.

  Keywords

Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival; BIGKinds, media articles; activation strategies; Cultural agendasetting theory;semantic network analysis