Hwangseong Sinmun

Hwangseong Sinmun
Inaugural edition of the Hwangseong sinmun (1898)
Korean name
Hangul	황성신문
Hanja	皇城新聞
Revised Romanization	Hwanseong Sinmun
McCune–Reischauer	Hwangsŏng Sinmun

The Hwangseong Sinmun ("Capital Gazette" or "Imperial Capital Gazette") (1898-1910) was one of Korea's earliest Korean-language dailies. It was established by Nam Gung'ok (南宮檍; 1863-1939) and Na Sugyeong (羅壽淵; 1861-1926) in 1898 to serve as a mouthpiece for those elements of the Korean progressive movement less keen on the strong Christian orientation of the country's other major reform-minded newspaper, The Independent.^[1]

The editorial of Jang Jiyeon, which appeared in the Hwangseong sinmun on November 20, 1905.

Published in Korean mixed script, one of the paper's most notable contributors was Shin Chaeho, the Korean nationalist historian. Reflecting its reformist bent, the Hwangseong sinmun published in a mixture of Hanja and native Korean script. In the wake of Japan's assumption of protectorship over the Korean Empire in 1905, the newspaper responded with strongly worded criticisms. Most prominent among these was an editorial by Jang Jiyeon (張志淵, 1864-1921) entitled, "I Wail Bitterly Today (Hangul: 시일야방성대곡; hanja: 是日也放聲大哭 or 이 날에 목놓아 통곡하노라). The newspaper was forced to close soon after the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910.

Throughout its thirteen years of publishing the subscription rates for the paper hovered around 3,000 copies.^[2]

References

1. Andre Schmid. 2002. Korea Between Empires, 1895-1919. New York: Columbia University Press, p. 48.
2. Andre Schmid. 2002. Korea Between Empires, 1895-1919. New York: Columbia University Press, p.51.