''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations was established in 1993. ''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 A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the o ...

for South Korea.

History

The ''Chosun Ilbo'' Establishment Union was created in September 1919 while the ''Chosun Ilbo'' company was founded on 5 March 1920 by Sin Sogu. The newspaper was critical of, and sometimes directly opposed to, the actions of the Japanese government during Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945). On 27 August 1920, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' was suspended after it published an editorial criticizing what it said was the use of excessive force by the Japanese police against Korean citizens. This was the first in a string of suspensions. On 5 September 1920, three days after the first suspension was lifted, the newspaper published an editorial, "Did the Japanese central governing body shut down our newspaper?" Then, ''Chosun Ilbo'' was given an indefinite suspension. In 1927, the ''Chosun Ilbo''s editor and publisher were arrested. The editor was also the chief staff writer. The alleged offense in this case was an editorial describing the mistreatment of prisoners by the colonial government. In May of the same year, in response to an editorial criticizing the deployment of troops into

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, the newspaper was suspended for a fourth time – in this case for 133 days. The publisher and chief staff writer, An Jae-hong, were again imprisoned. After these events, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' remained at the forefront of events, trying to improve general public life and sponsoring collaborative events. This was a turbulent period; within the space of three years, the president was replaced three times. On 21 December 1935, in opposition to compulsory Japanese education and plans to assimilate the Korean people and language, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' published 100,000 Korean-language textbooks nationwide. Over the years, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' company also published many additional titles, including a monthly current affairs magazine, ''Youth Chosun'', the first of its kind in Korea. Others included its sister publication, ''Jogwang''. On 31 July 1940, the newspaper published "Lessons of American Realism", the fourth part of an editorial series. Ten days later - 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

in Korea.

Subsidiaries

Besides the daily newspaper, the company also publishes the weekly ''Jugan Chosun'', the monthly ''Wolgan Chosun'' and other newspapers and magazines. Subsidiaries include Digital Chosun, Wolgan Chosun, Edu-Chosun, and ChosunBiz.

North Korean position

The ''Chosun Ilbo'' has taken a skeptical line on governmental policy towards

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

such as

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democra ...

's "

Sunshine policy The Sunshine Policy () is the theoretical basis for South Korea's foreign policy towards North Korea. Its official title is The Reconciliation and Cooperation Policy Towards the North (), and it is also known as The Operational Policy Towards the ...

". For this reason, it has attracted heavy criticism and threats from the North.

Controversy

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. 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 Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

. The

Educational Broadcasting System Korea Educational Broadcasting System () or EBS is a South Korean educational public broadcaster and radio network covering South Korean territory, and the only major South Korean radio and television network without a separate regional service ...

's popular instructor Choi Tae-seong, sued a ''Chosun Ilbo'' reporter for publishing an article that defamed him as a supporter of

References

External links