Kyunghyang Shinmun

The Kyunghyang Shinmun or Kyonghyang Sinmun is a major daily newspaper published in South Korea. It is based in Seoul. The name literally means Urbi et Orbi Daily News.[2]

Kyunghyang Shinmun
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Kyunghyang, Co.
EditorJo ho-yeon
Founded6 October, 1946
Political alignmentCentre[1] to centre-left[2]
LanguageKorean
HeadquartersSeoul, South Korea
Circulation350,000[2]
Websitekhan.co.kr
Korean name
Hangul
경향신문
Hanja
Revised RomanizationGyeonghyang Sinmun
McCune–ReischauerKyŏnghyang Sinmun

History

Kyunghyang Shinmun was founded in 1946 by the Catholic Church,[2] which explains its name. Before the Korean War, it was edited by Fr. Peter Ryang, a refugee from the North, and its circulation was 100,000.[3] Kyunghyang Shinmun was temporarily closed down in May 1959 by the Rhee administration on grounds of having printed "false editorials",[4] but revived after the pro-democracy April Revolution of 1960.[2] As of today, the newspaper is no longer associated with the Catholic Church.[2]

In 1974, Kyunghyang Shinmun joined forces with Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), thus forming the new Munhwa Broadcasting-Kyunghyang Shinmun Company. The partnership lasted until 1981, when the two companies were separated due to the Basic Press Act.

It later came to be owned by the Hanwha chaebol in 1990,[5] but Hanwha relinquished its control of the newspaper after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, at the same time as Hanhwa's competitor Hyundai gave up its own daily, the Munhwa Ilbo.[5]

Current operations

In 1998, Kyunghyang Shinmun became an independent newspaper with employee ownership.[2] The CEO is elected by the employees; the editor-in-chief, though appointed by the CEO, must be approved by a majority of the journalist-employees.[2]

The newspaper employs 600 people, including 240 journalists and maintains foreign bureaus in Washington, D.C., Tokyo and Beijing. It reports 1.3 million daily visitors to its website and 6.2 million daily page-views. The company also publishes a daily sports newspaper (Sports Kyunghyang), a weekly news magazine (The Jugan Kyunghyang) and a monthly lifestyle magazine for women (The Lady Kyunghyang).[2]

Like the newer daily The Hankyoreh, Kyunghyang Shinmun leans toward "anti-government" reporting,[6] describing itself as "moderate progressive".[2]

See also

References

  1. Kim, Seung-Kyung; Kim, Kyounghee (10 January 2014). The Korean Women's Movement and the State: Bargaining for Change. Seung-kyung Kim, Kyounghee Kim. ISBN 9781317817789. Hankook Ilbo, Kukmin Ilbo and Kyunghyang Sinmun are considered centrist; and Hankyoreh is progressive.
  2. "Who is the Kyunghyang Shinmun (Kyunghyang Daily News)" Kyunghyang Shinmun website (English). Retrieved 2011-10-06.
  3. "Korean Priest Who Fled Iron Curtain Preaches Here", The Pittsburgh Press, 1950-05-18, retrieved 2010-06-25
  4. "Opposition Paper Closed in Korea; News Falsification ChargedShutdown Protested by U. S. Embassy", The New York Times, 1959-05-02, retrieved 2010-06-25 (fee required for full article).
  5. Gunaratne, Shelton A. (2000), Handbook of the media in Asia, Sage Publications, p. 620, ISBN 978-0-7619-9427-5
  6. Do, Je-hae (2009-04-13), "Certain Dailies Given Priority in State Ads", The Korea Times, retrieved 2010-06-25
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