 | |
 Current headquarters (2019) | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Seoul Newspaper Co., Ltd. |
| Founder(s) | Ernest Bethell,Yang Gi-tak |
| Founded | 29 June 1904 (1904-06-29) (asKorea Times) |
| Relaunched |
|
| Language | Korean |
| Headquarters | Seoul, South Korea |
| Circulation | 780,000 |
| Website | www |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 서울신문 |
| Hanja | 서울新聞 |
| Lit. | Seoul Newspaper |
| RR | Seoul sinmun |
| MR | Sŏul sinmun |
Seoul Shinmun (Korean: 서울신문;lit. Seoul Newspaper) is a Korean-language daily newspaper published in South Korea.
The newspaper claims descendency from a newspaper established by EnglishmanErnest Bethell in Korea on 29 June 1904 calledThe Korea Daily News (Taehan maeil sinbo); per this claim,Seoul Shinmun would be the oldest active newspaper in South Korea. It published in both English and Korean, and soon became significantly influential due to its ability to publish critically about the Japanese government, which was rapidly encroaching on Korean sovereignty at the time. However, mounting pressure caused it to be sold in 1910. It renamed toMaeil sinbo, and largely published alongJapanese colonial government lines. After theliberation of Korea, the newspaper was seized by theUnited States Army Military Government in Korea in November 1945 and reorganized asSeoul Shinmun. The paper continued under this name, although it briefly published under the nameJinjung Shinmun during theKorean War and for several years afterwards.
Circulation is an estimated 780,000 issues a day.
In 1904, British journalistsErnest Bethell and Thomas Cowen[1] were sent to Korea to report for the British newspaperDaily Chronicle.[2] This was during a time when the Japanese government was rapidly encroaching on Korea's sovereignty. After being fired from the paper,[1] Bethell and Cowen began planning to publish their own paper tentatively called theKorea Times.[1] The pair,[1] along with Korean independence activistYang Gi-tak, published the first English-only issue ofKorea Times on 29 June 1904.[3] The first non-trial issue under the new name was published on 18 July 1904, and was concurrently published in Korean asTaehan maeil sinbo (대한매일신보;大韓每日申報).[2][1] Newspapers were then censored by theJapanese Resident-General of Korea. Bethell, as a British citizen, was able to dodge Japanese censorship and continue publishing newspapers.[2] However, he was frequently harassed by the Japanese.[1] Bethell was arrested and tried by the British twice, by request of the Japanese government.[1][2][4] He transferred ownership of the paper to his assistant editor Arthur Marnham, who carried on reporting critically of Japan.[1]
On 21 May 1910, Marnham folded under joint British and Japanese pressure, secretly sold the newspaper, and left the country.[3][1] Yang and others resigned and denounced the paper publicly as a propaganda piece.[4][3] The paper became strictly controlled by Japan. It changed its name toMaeil sinbo (매일신보;每日申報) on 30 August 1910,[1] and became subordinated to the Japanese-language paperKeijō nippō.[5] On 29 April 1938, it became independent from theKeijō and changed a character in its name (申 to 新; both are homophones in Korean).[5][3]
Korea was liberated in August 1945. TheMaeil sinbo chairman Lee Seong-geun (이성근) resigned, and the employees took over operation of the paper. The U.S. military arrived on 2 October 1945, and took control of it.[5] However, it faced pushback from the employees,[6] resulting in the paper being suspended in 10 November 1945.[4][6] It was reorganized and resumed publication on 23 November 1945 asSeoul Shinmun.[4][5][6] Its first president was independence activistO Se-chang,[5][6] who had participated in the 1919March 1st Movement protests against Japanese rule.[3]
In 15 August 1949, the paper and others were restricted to only four pages per issue.[6] The paper's publication froze during theKorean War. A two-page successor paper, calledJinjung Shinmun (진중신문;陣中新聞) began publication in April 1951, and was the only operating newspaper service in the city at the time. Its facilities were once destroyed, but were rebuilt, and the paper continued publishing.[6]
On 18 October 1956, the paper named its pure Hangul edition of theSeoul Shinmun. It was mostly a transliteration of the mixed-script main paper, and ceased publication within a year.[6]
On 23 March 1959, it changed its numbering system to effectively cut out theMaeil sinbo portion of its history, by making its firstSeoul Shinmun issue as No. 1, instead of its previous numbering No. 13738.[6] During the 1960April Revolution, a fire occurred in the building, and many of its rare records and materials were lost.[6] The paper encountered then financial difficulties, and took a hiatus beginning on 9 May of the following year. However, after theMay 16 coup of 1961, it began receiving support from the government, and resumed publication on 22 December of that year, publishing 36 pages per week in the evenings.[6]
From 2 December 1980, it began publishing in the morning again. It began usingcomputerized typesetting in January 1985, and moved to a larger office atTaepyeongno,Jung District, Seoul. It changed tohorizontal type in October 1996.[6]
On 11 November 1998 it restored the former nameThe Korea Daily News, but after a discussion during an extraordinary meeting to shareholders on 3 December 2003, it decided to revert back toSeoul Shinmun, and took effect on 1 January 2004.[3]
On 8 October 2021, Hoban Group became its largest shareholder.[3][7]
Seoul Shinmun introduced numerous sister magazines and newspapers throughout its history, including:[3][8][9]
(in Korean)