The Chosun Ilbo (Korean: 조선일보, lit. 'Korea Daily Newspaper') is a daily newspaper in South Korea[1][2][3][4] and the oldest active daily newspaper in the country.[9] With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000,[10] the Chosun Ilbo has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations was established in 1993.[11] Chosun Ilbo and its subsidiary company, Digital Chosun, operates the Chosun.com news website, which also publishes web versions of the newspaper in English, Chinese, and Japanese. The paper is considered a newspaper of record for South Korea.
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 The Chosun Ilbo Building in Gwanghwamun Plaza (2012) | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | ChosunMedia |
| Founder(s) | Sin Sogu |
| Editor | Park Doo-Sik |
| Founded | 5 March 1920 |
| Political alignment | |
| Language | Korean |
| Headquarters | Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea |
| Circulation |
|
| Website | chosun.com (in Korean)english.chosun.com (in English) |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Joseon Ilbo |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chosŏn Ilbo |
History
The Chosun Ilbo Establishment Union was created in September 1919. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper was founded on 5 March, 1920[9] by Sin Sogu with the financial support of the Daejong Business Association.[12][13] Cho Jin-Tae, the vice-chairman of the Daejong Business Association was appointed the first President of the newspaper in 1920.[14] However, as the Business Association failed to pay promised finances, the relationship between the Association and Chosun Ilbo broke down five months after its founding, and Cho Jin-Tae was replaced by Yoo Moon-Hwan.on 15 August, 1920.[14]
On 6 April, 1921, after only a year of publishing, the Chosun Ilbo went on hiatus due to financial troubles. [14]
On 31 July 1940, the newspaper published "Lessons of American Realism", the fourth part of an editorial series.[15] Ten days later[15] - following issue 6,923 - the paper was declared officially discontinued by the Japanese ruling government. In the twenty years since its founding, the paper had been suspended by the Japanese government four times, and its issues confiscated over five hundred times before 1932.
When Korea gained independence in 1945, the Chosun Ilbo came back into publication after a five-year, three-month hiatus.
The paper is considered a newspaper of record in Korea.[16]
Subsidiaries
Besides the daily newspaper, the company also publishes the Weekly Chosun, the Monthly Chosun, Digital Chosun, Edu-Chosun, and ChosunBiz.
Controversies
The Chosun Ilbo has historically taken a hardline stance against North Korea. For example, it opposed South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's "Sunshine Policy". For this reason, it has attracted heavy criticism and threats from the North.[12]
On 31 May 2019, the newspaper reported that, based on "an unidentified source", the head diplomat of North Korea's nuclear envoy Kim Hyok-chol, had been executed by a North Korean Government firing squad.[17][18][19][20][21][22] However, two days later, on 2 June 2019, the top diplomat was seen at a concert sitting a few seats away from North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un.[23][24][25]
The Educational Broadcasting System's popular instructor Choi Tae-seong, sued a Chosun Ilbo reporter for publishing an article that defamed him as a supporter of North Korea.[26]
The Chosun Ilbo has been accused of being "chinilbanminjokhaengwi" (친일반민족행위, 親日反民族行爲, "pro-Japanese anti-nationalist activist"), because of controversy over its advocacy of the Korea under Japanese rule.[8] In 2005, the South Korean government and Korean nationalist civic activists investigated whether Chosun Ilbo 'collaborated' with the Japanese Empire.[7] The Chosun Ilbo published articles described[by whom?] as excessively praising the Imperial House of Japan every year from 1938 to 1940. Until 1987, the newspaper had reported favorably on South Korea's military dictatorships.[5]
See also
Notes
References
External links
Media related to Chosun Ilbo at Wikimedia Commons- Official website (in English)
