Introduction

On March 10, 2017, after months of massive public protests, not only in the cities across the nation but also cities abroad, Geun-Hye Park, the incumbent president of South Korea, was impeached by the Constitutional Court because she “betrayed the trust of the people” and “abandoned her duty.” Although this was not the first time that the Korean public successfully removed political leaders from office, the peaceful and democratic protests of 2016 and 2017 mark an extraordinary milestone in Korean history - the awareness from which this project was born. Originally, this book was proposed out of a conference panel at the 103^rd National Communication Association Annual Convention in 2017. The participants at the panel were fascinated not only by the significance of the event which seemed to signify a birth of a new nation, but also by the energy that people brought with their questions, comments, and disagreements. It was obvious that more scholarly discussions were necessary, which was why we, the editors of the volume, put together this collection. Thus, the authors of this book demonstrate that the deep and profound social and political changes activated and materialized by what has come to be known as the 2016-2017 Candlelight Movement require systematic investigations and critical appreciations. In turn, readers will find that the chapters (re/dis)connect important dots, highlighting critical factors, dimensions, characteristics, and implications of the Candlelight Movement, to explain, complicate, and/or challenge “what” indeed happened and “how and why.”.