The Chosun Ilbo

Lore & Background

Cho Jin-Tae, the vice-chairman of that association, was appointed the first President in 1920, but after the association failed to pay promised finances, the relationship broke down five months later, and Yoo Moon-Hwan replaced him on 15 August 1920. On 6 April 1921, after only a year of publishing, the paper went on hiatus due to financial troubles.

Reader's Guide

The Chosun Ilbo has historically taken a hardline stance against North Korea, opposing President Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy aimed at engaging North Korea through cooperation. This has attracted heavy criticism and threats from the North. That same year, the newspaper reported, based on an unidentified source, that North Korean diplomat Kim Hyok-chol had been executed, but two days later he was seen at a concert near Kim Jong Un. In 2006, chairman Bang Sang-hoon was sentenced to three years in prison with a four-year suspended sentence and a fine of 2.5 billion won for tax evasion and misappropriation of company funds. On 1 March 1999, the paper announced it would switch to horizontal left-to-right writing style, becoming the last mainstream Korean paper to abandon vertical right-to-left style.

Did You Know?

• The Chosun Ilbo was founded on 5 March 1920 by Sin Sogu with financial support from the Daejong Business Association.
• On 1 March 1999, the paper announced it would switch to horizontal left-to-right writing style, becoming the last mainstream Korean paper to abandon vertical right-to-left style.