The festive mass rally that took place in South Korea during the 2002 World
Cup was more than a sporting event. As a way of understanding the national
frenzy and people’s experiences during the World Cup, we interpret the mass
festive rally as a form of social performance. In doing so, we portray this
sporting event as a national stage, with Korean supporters as performers and
the worldwide audience as spectators. This study uses the term “nation-ness”
to encapsulate the idea of nation that links such disparate phenomena as
nation, nationalism, and nationality. Through the examination of various
performances within the rally, as well as of various reactions by the governmental,
corporate, and public, it reveals that the spectacle contained three
dimensions of performance: evolving processes, a betwixt-and-between, and
everyday life. Attention to the performative aspects of the event contributes to
illuminating this phenomenon as a set of evolving processes that are closely
tied to contemporary South Korean society. Through analyzing South Koreans’
performance in the World Cup, we suggest that nation-ness was performed as
cultural practices that were utilized for individual revelation, and as expressions
of nationalism interwoven with globalism.