''The JoongAng'', formally known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'', is a South Korean

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 ...

published in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and 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. The paper also publishes an English edition, ''

Korea JoongAng Daily ''Korea JoongAng Daily'' is the English edition of the South Korean national daily newspaper ''JoongAng Ilbo''. The newspaper was first published on October 17, 2000, originally named as ''JoongAng Ilbo English Edition''. It mainly carries news a ...

'', in alliance with the ''International New York Times''. It is often regarded as the holding company of JoongAng Group

chaebol A chaebol (, ; ) is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group whose power over the group often exc ...

as it is owner of various affiliates, such as the broadcast station and drama producing company

JTBC JTBC (shortened from ''Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company'' (; stylized as jtbc) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on 1 December 2011. JTBC ...

, and movie theatres chain Megabox.

History

It was first published on September 22, 1965, by

Lee Byung-chul Lee Byung-chul (Korean: 이병철 12 February 1910 – 19 November 1987) was a South Korean businessman. He was the founder of the Samsung Group, which is South Korea's largest chaebol, and he is considered one of South Korea's most success ...

, the founder of

Samsung Group The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

which once owned the

Tongyang Broadcasting Company Tongyang Broadcasting Company (TBC, 1964-1980) was a South Korean commercial television station which was merged by the government with KBS. It was owned by the Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chul.Understanding Modern East Asian Politics - Page ...

(TBC). In 1980, ''JoongAng Ilbo'' gave up TBC and TBC merged with KBS. ''JoongAng Ilbo'' is the pioneer in South Korea for the use of horizontal copy layout, topical sections, and specialist reporters with investigative reporting teams. Since April 15, 1995, ''JoongAng Ilbo'' has been laid out horizontally and also became a morning newspaper from then on. In 1999, ''JoongAng Ilbo'' was separated from Samsung. As of March 18, 2007, it has produced a Sunday edition called
JoongAng Sunday
'. The paper is considered a

in Korea.

English and international issues

The ''

'' is the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

version of the newspaper, and it is one of three English-language daily newspapers in South Korea, along with ''

The Korea Times ''The Korea Times'' is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language daily; both are owned by Dongwha Enterprise, a wood-based manufacturer ...

'' and ''

The Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' is a leading English-language daily newspaper founded in 1953 and published in Seoul, South Korea. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from int ...

''. It runs mainly news and feature stories by staff reporters, and some stories translated from the

Korean language Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...

newspaper. The ''Korea JoongAng Daily'' is currently sold together with the ''

International New York Times ''The New York Times International Edition'' is an English-language daily newspaper distributed internationally by the New York Times Company. It has been published in two separate periods, one from 1943 to 1967 and one from 2013 to the prese ...

''. ''JoongAng Ilbo'' also publishes a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

edition, with branches from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. Its parent company, Joongang Media Network (JMNet) holds publication rights to Korean editions of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' and ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' as well as 25% of the shares of

cable TV.

Criticism

''JoongAng Ilbo'' is considered by some critics as part of

Chojoongdong Chojoongdong ( ko, 조중동, ), abbreviated as CJD, is a pejorative term which refers to three highly circulated conservative newspapers in South Korea. The word is an acronym of the ''Chosun'', '' Joong-ang'' and ''Dong-a Ilbo'' newspapers, and ...

( ko, 조중동, CJD), a pejorative term that refers to the three highly circulated conservative

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 ...

s in

including ''JoongAng Ilbo''. The word is an acronym of the ''

Chosun Joseon (; ; Middle Korean Middle Korean is the period in the history of the Korean language succeeding Old Korean and yielding in 1600 to the Modern period. The boundary between the Old and Middle periods is traditionally identified with t ...

'', ''Joong-ang'' and ''

Dong-a Ilbo The ''Dong-A Ilbo'' (, literally ''East Asia Daily'') is a newspaper of record in Korea since 1920 with a daily circulation of more than 1.2 million and opinion leaders as its main readers. ''The Dong-A Ilbo'' is the parent company of Dong-A ...

'' newspapers, and the grouping is seen as forming the basis of South Korea's conservative media. The term was used by ''

Hankyoreh ''The Hankyoreh'' (, literally "The Korean Nation" or "One Nation") is a centre-left liberal daily newspaper in South Korea. It was established in 1988 after widespread purges forced out dissident journalists, and was envisioned as an alternati ...

'' editor Jung Yeonju ( ko, 정연주) as early as October 2000. Korean liberals criticize Chojoongdong primarily because of their

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

-biased editorial stances and doing business in a collusive and surreptitious manner. As of 2010, the market share of ''Chosun'', ''Joong-ang'' and ''Dong-a Ilbo'' is 24.3%, 21.8%, and 18.3%, respectively.

References

External links

*
Korea JoongAng Daily
( English-language version of the newspaper)
Joins.com
(web portal of the JoongAng Media Network Group) {{Authority control 1965 establishments in South Korea Business newspapers Centre-right newspapers Chaebol Conservative media in South Korea Former Samsung subsidiaries Korean-language newspapers Newspaper companies of South Korea Newspapers published in South Korea Mass media in Seoul Publications established in 1965

History

English and international issues

Criticism

See also

References

External links