The Chosun Ilbo

History

The Chosun Ilbo Establishment Union was created in September 1919, and the Chosun Ilbo company was founded on March 5, 1920. The newspaper was critical of, and sometimes directly opposed to, the actions of the Japanese government during Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945).

On August 27, 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 September 5, 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 June 1923, Chosun Ilbo celebrated its one thousandth issue. It had achieved many milestones, including being the first newspaper in Korea to publish both morning and evening editions, send international correspondents to Russia, and publish cartoons. However, in that same month, it was given its third, indefinite suspension by the Japanese government for printing an editorial opposing Japanese rule.

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, 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 December 21, 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.

In the summer of 1940, 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.

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.

Criticism

The Educational Broadcasting System's popular instructor Choi Tae-seong (최태성) sued a Chosun Ilbo reporter for publishing an article that defamed him as a supporter of North Korea.