{{Short description|South Korean daily newspaper}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = The Chosun Ilbo | logo = class=skin-invert|240px | image = Chosun Ilbo Building.jpg | caption = The Chosun Ilbo Building in Gwanghwamun Plaza (2012) | type = Daily newspaper | format = Broadsheet | founded = 5 March 1920 | founder = Sin Sogu | owners = {{ill|Chosun Media Group|ko|조선미디어그룹}} | political_position = {{ublist|class = nowrap | Right-wing<ref name="Press Freedom in Contemporary Asia" /><ref name="How partisan newspapers represented" /><ref name="News media's framing of health poli" /><ref name="Ideological parallelism: toward a t" /> | Conservatism<ref name="ChosunCriticism">{{cite news |title=친일·독재 찬양 흑역사는 쏙 뺀 조선일보의 '반쪽 100년사' |trans-title= Chosun Ilbo's '100-Year History of the Half', Excluding the Dark History of Praise of Pro-Japanese and Dictatorship |url=https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/media/931992.html |quote= . 일제강점기엔 일왕 생일 충성 맹세 / 5·16쿠데타 비호, 5·18 항쟁 먹칠 / 김일성 사망 오보 34년 만에 정정 / 고비마다 진실 비틀며 왜곡 일삼다.. |trans-quote= .Pledge of allegiance on the birthday of the emperor during the Japanese colonial era / Protection of the 5/16 coup d'état, disgrace of the 5/18 uprising / Misinformation on the death of Kim Il-sung corrected after 34 years / Twisted and distorted the truth at every juncture... |publisher=The Hankyoreh |date= March 10, 2020 |access-date=February 28, 2023 }}</ref> | Anti-communism<ref name="ChosunCriticism"/> | '''Historical:''' | Far-right<ref>{{cite book|editor=강준만 |script-title=ko:지식 권력도 교체하자 |date=1998 |page=302 |publisher=개마 고원 |isbn=9788985548267 }}</ref>{{efn|name=a|until 1987}} | Pro-military<ref name="ChosunCriticism"/>{{efn|name=a|until 1987}} | Pro-''Chinilpa''<ref name="ChosunCriticism"/><ref name="친일파">{{cite book |title=(pt. 1-3) 친일반민족행위 결정 이유서 |date=2007 |page=2411 |publisher= 대통령소속친일반민족행위진상규명위원회 }}</ref>{{efn|name=b|until 1940, it was forcibly closed from 1940 to 1945.}} | Pro-Empire of Japan<ref name="ChosunCriticism"/><ref name="일제 협력">{{cite book |editor=조선일보 반민족・반통일 행위에 대한 민간 법정 추진 위원회 |script-title=ko:조선일보 반민족・반통일 행위에 대한 민간 법정 백서 |quote=조선일보의 위와 같은 보도는 일제의 침략 전쟁을 미화하고 나아가 일제 의 침략 전쟁에 조선을 후방 병참 기지화 ... |date=2002 |page=41 |publisher=인물 과 사상사 |isbn=9788988410561 }}</ref>{{efn|name=b}} }} | headquarters = Jung District, Seoul, South Korea | president = Bang Sang-Hun | editor = Park Doo-Sik | language = Korean | website = {{URL|https://www.chosun.com/|chosun.com}} {{in lang|ko}}<br />{{URL|http://english.chosun.com/|english.chosun.com}} {{in lang|en}} | circulation = {{bulleted list| 5,262,070 news subscribers| 4,000,000+ digital-only| 1,212,208 print| 49,862 print for child }} | module = {{Infobox Korean name/auto | hangul = ^조선_일보 | hanja = 朝鮮日報 |child=yes }} }}

'''''The Chosun Ilbo''''' ({{korean|조선일보}}, {{literally|Korea Daily Newspaper}}), also known as '''''The Chosun Daily''','' is a Korean-language newspaper of record for South Korea<ref name="Press Freedom in Contemporary Asia">{{cite book |last1=Burrett |first1=Tina |last2=Kingston |first2=Jeff |title=Press Freedom in Contemporary Asia |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York, NY |isbn=9781138584839}}</ref><ref name="How partisan newspapers represented">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Sangwon |last2=Paik |first2=Jihyun |title=How partisan newspapers represented a pandemic: the case of the Middle East respiratory syndrome in South Korea |journal=Asian Journal of Communication |date=2017 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=82–96 |doi=10.1080/01292986.2016.1235592|doi-access= |s2cid=152142220 }}</ref><ref name="News media's framing of health poli">{{cite journal |last1=Jo |first1=Wonkwang |last2=You |first2=Myoungsoon |title=News media's framing of health policy and its implications for government communication: A text mining analysis of news coverage on a policy to expand health insurance coverage in South Korea |journal=Health Policy |date=2019 |volume=123 |issue=11 |pages=1116–1124 |doi=10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.07.011|pmid=31495561 |s2cid=199026467 }}</ref><ref name="Ideological parallelism: toward a t">{{cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Kisun |last2=Shahin |first2=Saif |title=Ideological parallelism: toward a transnational understanding of the protest paradigm |journal=Social Movement Studies |date=2019 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=391–407 |doi=10.1080/14742837.2019.1681956|s2cid=210459297 }}</ref><ref name="CMC">{{cite book |last1=Youm |first1=Kyu Ho |author-link1=Kyu Ho Youm |title=Korean Communication, Media, and Culture: An Annotated Bibliography |last2=Kwak |first2=Nojin |date=August 2018 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1498583329 |edition=1st |page=71 |chapter=3 |quote=The prominent "big three" publications — Chosun Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo, and Joongang Ilbo — are newspapers of record with a combined three million subscribers.}}</ref> and among the oldest active newspapers in the country.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Frank|first1=Rüdiger|title=Korea Yearbook (2009): Politics, Economy and Society|last2=Hoare|first2=Jim|last3=Köllner|first3=Patrick|last4=Pares|first4=Susan|publisher=BRILL|year=2009|isbn=9789004180192|location=Leiden|pages=207}}</ref> With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000,<ref>Chosun Iilbo http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/11/30/2010113001011.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194545/http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/11/30/2010113001011.html |date=4 March 2016 }}</ref> ''The'' ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations was established in 1993.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europe.canterbury.ac.nz/appp/media_analysis/paper_sources.shtml |title=The Asia-Pacific Perceptions Project |work=National Centre for Research on Europe |publisher=University of Canterbury |location=Christchurch, New Zealand |access-date=8 April 2008 |archive-date=6 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806195819/http://www.europe.canterbury.ac.nz/appp/media_analysis/paper_sources.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> ''The'' ''Chosun Ilbo'' and its subsidiary company, Digital Chosun, operate the ''Chosun.com'' news website, which also publishes news in English, Chinese, and Japanese.

==History== {{Conservatism in South Korea|Media}} The Chosun Ilbo Establishment Union was created in September 1919. ''The'' ''Chosun Ilbo'' newspaper was founded on 5 March 1920<ref name=":0" /> by Sin Sogu with the financial support of the Daejong Business Association.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Hoare |first=James E. |title=Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Korea, Third Edition |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-8108-7163-2 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=118}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Pratt|first1=Keith|title=Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary|last2=Rutt|first2=Richard|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=9780700704644|location=Oxon|pages=65}}</ref> Cho Jin-Tae, the vice-chairman of the Daejong Business Association was appointed the first President of the newspaper in 1920.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2020-08-03 |script-title=ko:[격동의 역사와 함께한 조선일보 90년] 3대 사장 남궁훈 "사이토 총독 사직하라" 4대 사장 이상재 취임 후 민족지로 '우뚝' |url=https://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/12/31/2009123102852.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=The Chosun Ilbo |language=ko}}</ref> However, as the Business Association failed to pay promised finances, the relationship between the Association and ''The Chosun Ilbo'' broke down five months after its founding, and Cho Jin-Tae was replaced by Yoo Moon-Hwan on 15 August 1920.<ref name=":3" />

On 6 April 1921, after only a year of publishing, ''The Chosun Ilbo'' went on hiatus due to financial troubles.<ref name=":3" />

On 31 July 1940, the newspaper published "Lessons of American Realism", the fourth part of an editorial series.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Kim|first=Choon-Hee|title=Jamesian Cultural Anxiety in the East and West: The Co-Constitutive Nature of the Cosmopolite Spirit|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year=2020|isbn=978-1-5275-4199-3|location=Newcastle upon Tyne|pages=140}}</ref> Ten days later<ref name=":1" /> – 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'' resumed publication after a five-year, three-month hiatus.

On 1 March 1999, ''The Chosun Ilbo'' announced that starting the following day (2 March 1999), it would be switching to the horizontal left-to-right writing style already adopted by most other newspapers by the time, ahead of the paper's 79th anniversary.<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ko:네이버 뉴스 라이브러리 |url=https://newslibrary.naver.com/viewer/index.naver?publishDate=1999-03-01&officeId=00023&pageNo=1 |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=NAVER Newslibrary}}</ref> It also made a commitment to preserve and continue using ''hanja'' characters despite the change. Consequently, the 1 March 1999 issue (Issue No. 24305) became the last issue of ''The Chosun Ilbo'' written in the vertical right-to-left style and the last mainstream Korean paper that published in the style. All issues since 2 March 1999 have been in the modern horizontal left-to-right style.

== Subsidiaries == Besides the daily newspaper, the company also publishes the ''Weekly Chosun'', the ''Monthly Chosun'', ''Digital Chosun'', ''Edu-Chosun'', and ''ChosunBiz''.

==Controversies== {{See also|Chojoongdong}} ''The'' ''Chosun Ilbo'' has historically taken a hardline stance against North Korea. For example, it opposed South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy, aimed at engaging North Korea through cooperation, mitigating the gap in economic power and restoring lost communication between the two Koreas. For this reason, the newspaper has attracted heavy criticism and threats from the North.<ref name=":2" />

On 6 April 2019, Deutsche Welle described ''The Chosun Ilbo'' as "an outlet notorious for its dubious and politically motivated" reporting on North Korea.<ref>{{Cite web |title=North Korea: Fake news on both sides is the norm |url=https://www.dw.com/en/north-korea-fake-news-on-both-sides-is-the-norm/a-49042595 |website=Deutsche Welle}}</ref>

On 31 May 2019, the newspaper reported that, based on "an unidentified source", the head diplomat of North Korea's nuclear envoy Kim Hyok-chol, had been executed by a North Korean Government firing squad.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/31/north-korea-executes-senior-officials-over-failed-trump-summit-report/1296383001/ "North Korea executes nuclear envoy to U.S. after failed Trump summit: report."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602171515/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/31/north-korea-executes-senior-officials-over-failed-trump-summit-report/1296383001/ |date=2 June 2019 }} Kim Hjelmgaard. ''USA Today''. 31 May 2019. Accessed 3 June 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-north-korea-purge-hanoi-20190531-story.html?amp ''North Korea executed top negotiator, purged others over failed Trump summit, report says.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112033150/https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-north-korea-purge-hanoi-20190531-story.html?amp |date=12 January 2020 }} Victoria Kim. ''Los Angeles Times''. 31 May 2019. Accessed 3 June 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.france24.com/en/20190531-north-korea-executed-officials-kim-trump-summit-vietnam-usa "North Korea 'executed' officials after failed Trump summit: report."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604022002/https://www.france24.com/en/20190531-north-korea-executed-officials-kim-trump-summit-vietnam-usa |date=4 June 2019 }} France 24 TV. 31 May 2019. Accessed 3 June 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2019-05-30/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-carrying-out-purge-after-hanoi-summit-collapse-chosun-ilbo "North Korea Executes Envoy to Failed U.S. Summit -Media; White House Monitoring."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604022003/https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2019-05-30/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-carrying-out-purge-after-hanoi-summit-collapse-chosun-ilbo |date=4 June 2019 }} Hyonhee Shin and Joyce Lee. U.S. News & World Report. 31 May 2019. Accessed 3 June 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/31/north-korea-executes-envoy-to-us-after-trump-summit-failures "US checking reports North Korea executed envoy, says Pompeo: South Korean paper claims Kim Hyok-chol has been killed and a negotiator put in forced labour."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604124453/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/31/north-korea-executes-envoy-to-us-after-trump-summit-failures |date=4 June 2019 }} Justin McCurry. ''The Guardian''. London, England. 31 May 2019. Accessed 3 June 2019.</ref><ref>[https://m.cnn.com/en/article/h_6296d295e0e3f2014fdfcc1b013de43a "US checking reports North Korea executed top official after Trump summit, Pompeo says."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604022004/https://m.cnn.com/en/article/h_6296d295e0e3f2014fdfcc1b013de43a |date=4 June 2019 }} CNN. 1 June 2019. Accessed 3 June 2019.</ref> However, two days later, on 2 June 2019, the top diplomat was seen at a concert sitting a few seats away from North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.<ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/top-north-korean-official-reappears-days-purge-report-63442387 ''Top North Korean official reappears days after purge report.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603194638/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/top-north-korean-official-reappears-days-purge-report-63442387 |date=3 June 2019 }} Kim Tong-Hyung, Associated Press. 3 June 2019. Accessed 3 June 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/03/senior-north-korean-official-kim-yong-chol-reappears-after-forced-labour-report "Senior North Korean official reappears after 'forced labour' report: Photo shows Kim Yong-chol attended an art performance with Kim Jong-un on Sunday."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604014347/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/03/senior-north-korean-official-kim-yong-chol-reappears-after-forced-labour-report |date=4 June 2019 }} Daniel Hurst. ''The Guardian''. 3 June 2019. Accessed 3 June 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/purged-not-purged-leading-north-korean-official-re-emerges-in-public/2019/06/03/fbb55d02-85f6-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html ''Purged? Not purged. Leading North Korean official reemerges in public.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604022014/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/purged-not-purged-leading-north-korean-official-re-emerges-in-public/2019/06/03/fbb55d02-85f6-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html |date=4 June 2019 }} Min Joo Kim and Simon Denyer . 3 June 2019. Accessed 3 June 2019.</ref>

The Educational Broadcasting System's popular instructor Choi Tae-seong, sued a ''Chosun Ilbo'' reporter for publishing an article that defamed him as a supporter of North Korea.<ref>{{cite news |author=Lee Hui-jin (이희진) |title=EBS 강사, 명예훼손 혐의로 조선일보 기자 고소 |date=11 August 2011 |url=http://www.nocutnews.co.kr/show.asp?idx=1885827 |work=No Cut News |access-date=17 September 2011 |language=ko |archive-date=25 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325085313/http://www.nocutnews.co.kr/show.asp?idx=1885827 |url-status=live }}</ref>

''The Chosun Ilbo'' has been accused of being "''chinilbanminjokhaengwi''" (친일반민족행위, 親日反民族行爲, "pro-Japanese anti-nationalist activist"), because of controversy over its advocacy of the Korea under Japanese rule.<ref name="일제 협력"/> In 2005, the South Korean government and Korean nationalist civic activists investigated whether Chosun Ilbo 'collaborated' with the Japanese Empire.<ref name="친일파"/> ''The Chosun Ilbo'' published articles described{{by whom|date=December 2023}} as excessively praising the Imperial House of Japan every year from 1938 to 1940. Until 1987, the newspaper had reported favorably on South Korea's military dictatorships.<ref name="ChosunCriticism"/>

In 2002, the prosecution sought a sentence of seven years in prison and a fine of 12 billion won for ''The Chosun Ilbo'' chairman Bang Sang-hoon, who was indicted on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement. Chairman Bang was accused of evading 6.2 billion won in gift and corporate taxes, as well as embezzling 4.5 billion won in company funds. He was arrested in August of the previous year but was released on bail and has been on trial since. On June 29, 2006, he was indicted for evading 2.35 billion won in gift taxes by transferring 65,000 shares of ''The Chosun Ilbo'' to his son through a nominal trust, and for misusing 2.57 billion won in company funds under the names of family members to increase capital in affiliates like Jogwang Publishing and Sports Chosun. The Supreme Court sentenced Chairman Bang to three years in prison with a four-year suspended sentence and a fine of 2.5 billion won for tax evasion and the misappropriation of company funds.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 20, 2019 |script-title=ko:방상훈 조선일보사장 '유죄'…"족벌언론 범죄" 단죄|url=http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/media/137057.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=한겨레신문 |language=ko}}</ref>

==Gallery== {{gallery |width=220 |align=center |File:ChosunIlbo (January1-1940).jpg|The Chosun Ilbo on January 1, 1940 }}

==See also== {{Portal |Journalism |South Korea}} *Chojoongdong *List of newspapers in South Korea *Communications in South Korea *Issues in reporting on North Korea

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons-inline}} *{{Official website|http://english.chosun.com/}} {{in lang|en}}

{{Newspapers in South Korea}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chosun Ilbo}} Category:1920 establishments in Korea Category:Korean-language newspapers Category:Daily newspapers published in South Korea Category:Conservative media in South Korea Category:Right-wing newspapers Category:Anti-communism in South Korea Category:English-language newspapers Category:Newspapers established in 1920 Category:Newspapers published in Seoul Category:Newspapers published in Korea under Japanese rule Category:The Chosun Ilbo