Tongnip Sinmun

The Independent or Tongnip Sinmun (독립신문; 1896–1899) was early Korean newspapers. Tongnip Sinmun was the first privately managed modern daily newspaper in Korea. It was founded in July 1896 by a member of the enlightened Korean intelligentsia, Seo Jae-pil (later known as Philip Jaisohn). It constituted two different language editions: Korean and English. Originally, it was published every other day and developed into a daily newspaper in Korean. The English edition, originally published every other day like the Korean edition, was later only published weekly. It has been estimated that the paper's average circulation per issue was between two and three thousand copies.

Background

The key figure in the paper's establishment was undeniably Seo Jae-pil. After the failure of the progressive Gapsin Coup in 1884, Seo sought refuge in the United States. In exile he learned from Pak Yeong-hyo (박영효, 朴泳孝) that he had been pardoned from the charge of high treason as of March 1895, and further, that his "Gaehwapa" (개화파, lit. reformist) comrades had come to power during his exile. As a result, he decided to return to Korea in December of that year.