''Korean News'' () was a South Korean government news program that was displayed in movie theaters between 1953 and 1994. Its 2040th program, which aired on December 31, 1994, was its last one. The program went by a number of names over its history. A predecessor to this program, ''Korean Newsreel'' (), ran between 1945 and 1948. Another predecessor, the ''Korea Forward News'' (), ran between 1948 and 1953. The program was created as ''Korean News'' () in 1953, although it went on to use several alternate

transliterations Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

of the word "news" over the years (, , and finally ). For several months in 1980, it went by the name ''Camera Report'' (). It also produced a program for

Koreans in Japan comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South ...

first under a similar title () and then as ''Homeland News'' (). Its role as a government news program was then assumed by cable TV channel (KTV). A private newspaper under the same name was founded in 2003, with the intention of succeeding the role of the previous news program. All episodes are available for viewing, free of charge, on the government-sponsored eHistory film archive website and on KTV's YouTube channel.

History

The program, its predecessors, and successors have their origins in a film company established in 1942, during the 1910–1945 Japanese colonial period. The company was called the . After Korea was liberated in 1945, the company began to produce the ''Korean Newsreel'' () under the

United States Army Military Government in Korea The United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was the official ruling body of the Southern half of the Korean Peninsula from 8 September 1945 to 15 August 1948. The country during this period was plagued with political and eco ...

. On November 4, 1948, shortly after the United States handed off authority to the

First Republic of Korea The first Republic of Korea () was the government of South Korea from August 1948 to April 1960. The first republic was founded on 15 August 1948 after the transfer from the United States Army Military Government that governed South Korea sin ...

, the Bureau of Public Information of the South Korean government took over production of the films, and renamed the series to ''Korea Forward News'' ().

Black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

films were released monthly during this period. During the 1950–1953

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

served as the provisional capital of the South, and the films were produced and aired there. In January 1953, the program was renamed to roughly its current form: ''Korean News'' (). Two to three times a month,

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

films were produced and displayed on mobile projectors for the army and populus, although mainly in Busan. On November 25, 1953, after the

Korean Armistice Agreement The Korean Armistice Agreement ( ko, 한국정전협정 / 조선정전협정; zh, t=韓國停戰協定 / 朝鮮停戰協定) is an armistice that brought about a complete cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United Sta ...

marking the de facto end of the war, the program's Hangul title was transliterated slightly differently (). It aired its 100th episode on January 17 of that year. In December, the films were produced and shown weekly in locations across the country on 35 mm and 16 mm film. From 1961, it went by another transliteration (). It began producing some episodes in color beginning in November 1963. On December 26, 1964, it released its 500th episode. It began using

8 mm film 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the ...

in 1970. Beginning in August 1972, all episodes were released in color. By 1974, every city, county, town, and village had access to the films. It changed the transliteration to its final form () in 1978, although between March 15 and May 30 of 1980 it went by the name ''Camera Report'' () before changing back. According to the ''Encyclopedia of Korean Culture'', by the 1980s, it was seen as one-sided government propaganda, and generally dismissed. It decreased in relevance with the rise of

mass media in South Korea The South Korean mass media consist of several different types of public communication of news: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based websites. Modern Korean journalism began after the opening of Korea in the late 19 ...

around that time. The last episode, No. 2040, aired on December 31, 1994. It was succeeded by ''Korea TV'' (''K-TV'' or ''KTV'') in March 1995. A private newspaper by the same name was also founded on October 24, 2003, with the intention of succeeding the news program.

Overseas editions

From February 1962, an additional monthly news program was produced specifically for

. Its title can also be translated as ''Korean News'', although it had a distinct title in Korean (). Beginning with its January 23, 1970 episode, the program began to use the name ''Homeland News'' (). From 1967, it produced films in five languages for Koreans overseas.

References

External links

eHistory archive of all episodes
* {{Youtube, channel=UC8_LPVE4Yuc6KF0opF6uS_w Defunct mass media in South Korea 1953 establishments in South Korea Documentary films about South Korea Documentary films about North Korea 1994 disestablishments in South Korea Newsreels published in Korea

History

Overseas editions

See also

References

External links