「大韓每日申報」刊行에 대한 一考察 : On the Publication of The Korea Daily News
- 주제(KDC) 070.000
- 발행기관 서강대학교 인문과학연구소
- 발행년도 1986
- 총서유형 Journal
- 본문언어 한국어
초록/요약
This article proposes to examine the motive of the publication of The Korea Daily News, the number of staff on the newspaper and its principal figures, the important content of the paper, and the process of the discontinuance of its publication, and so on. Here is a brief summary of the article. When the Russo-Japanese War broke out in 1904, the Korean Government felt the necessity of publishing an English-language newspaper to inform all coun-tries of the world about the situation of Korea at that time. Through its contact with the special foreign correspondents who visited Korea to cover the Russo-Japanese War, the government officials employed an Englishman named Ernest Thomas Bethell (1872∼1909). He went to Japan in his childhood and engaged in business and accumulated wealth at one time. But later he squandered his fortune, having a collision with the Japanese, which made him nurse a deep grudge against the Jppanese. It was government officials of the Office of Ceremony under the Ministry of the Royal Household who contacted him. On the establishing of the newspaper, Bethell was appointed the president and Yang Ki-taek(1871∼1938) the director. Yang Ki-taek was also a government official of the office of Ceremony and was fluent in English, since he had studied at the Foreign Language School founded in Seoul. Under the direction of Bethell and Yang Ki-taek, there was staff of about fifty, such as an editorial committee, reporters and proof-readers. Sample newspapers were published for about ten days from June 29, 1904 and on July 18 they saw the first publication of The Korean and 4 pages in English. Its format was not well structured. it was organized with English as its center, and also half of the English was advertising. Many of the Korean editorials or news items were translations of the English. Among the contents of the newspaper were many articles trea-ting resolutely issues which other newspapers then would not dare to make a subject of criticism. The outstanding ones were the criticism of the Treaty of 1905 between Korea and japan, the publishing with heavy headlines of the shooting incident of a pro-Japanese American D.W. Stevens, the picture of the activities of the Righteous Army, the censure against pro-Japanese news-papers and so on. In particular, in March 1908 it stopped publishing the official gazette which act was a frontal challenge against the Japanese Protectorate. In March 1905 The Korea Daily News abruptly suspended issues after eight months' publishing. it was because the members of the editorial staff had a serious dispute over the object of the newspaper. To arouse public opinion they had to deal with the learned, and for that purpose an assertion that the Korean alpha-bet mixed with Chinese characters should be used seems to have arisen. Eventually, the suggestion was adopted, and August 11 of the same year The Korea Daily News resumed publishing an edition in Korean alphabet mixed with Chinese characters and an English edition separately. The publication of the newspaper in Korean alphabet mixed with Chinese characters in this way, in a sense, might be easily regarded as a regression in newspaper making. But the action as taken because of the hard fact that ignoring the Classical Chinese planted deeply in Korean society was unthinkable then. Thereafter expert Classical chinese scholars were invited as editorial commit-teemen and reporters. Hence Park Un-shik (1859∼1925), shin Chae-ho (1880∼1936) and others joined the company and began publishing a Korean edition. The formation of public opinion and the enlightenment of the general public were things hard to ig-nore. Finally, The Korea Daily News was issued in three forms: the Korean Daily News was issued in three forms: the Korean alphabet mixed with Chinese characters edition, the English edition, and the Korean vernacular edition. The number of copies was 4,000 at the beginning and exceeded 10,000 after the Korean edition was reported. But managing a newspaper company with the subscription fees from this number of copies was a strenuous job, So it was reported that in each month a grant from the Imperial palace was used to supply the deficiency. The oppression of the Japanese Residency-General on The Korea Daily News became aggravated with each day. The Residency-General kept watch on and intimidated reporters, while confiscating newspapers. And by establishing the newspaper Law, it charged Bethell with the instigation of the Korean people and imposed him bodily punishments and fines, and it placed Yang Ki-taek, the director, uner restraint on a false charge of embezzlement of the national bond compensation. In may 1909 Bethell died of heart disease and Yang Ki-taek retired from the company. An Englishman named Alfred W.Marnham, the secretary of Bethell, took care of it for quite a while. And after he finished with it Lee Jang-hoon who was a clerk, took over and managed it, but in August 1910 it stopped publishing because of the Japanese Annexation of Korea. Although The Korea Daily News published newspapers for a short span of six years, with the three edition in Korean alpha-bet mixed with Chinese character, English and korean, it not only acted in harmony with the people but also contributed to the promotion of korean journalism, which made The Korea Daily News highly esteemed as a newspaper never-to-be-forgotten in the history of Korean newspapers.
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