Gyeongnam Ilbo

The Gyeongnam Ilbo is a daily Korean-language regional newspaper published in Sangpyeong-dong, Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.

It claims to be the successor to the first regional Korean-language newspaper, which was founded on October 15, 1909, although it closed in January 1915. Another newspaper under that name reopened in 1946, but closed in 1980. The modern newspaper opened in 1989, and is thus the third to use this name. It is one of two regional newspapers for the province, with the other being the Changwon-based Kyongnam Shinmun.

Some of its original predecessor's early issues are available on the Korean Newspaper Archive for free.

First run
The Gyeongnam Ilbo was the first regional Korean-language newspaper and the first newspaper to be published in Jinju. Its company was also the first publicly-owned Korean press company. It was rare at the time, as it was the first newspaper to be founded in a regional Korean city that was not Japanese. By contrast, by 1909 there were around 34 Japanese newspapers across Korea in 1909, and the first newspapers published in cities like Jeonju and Masan were Japanese.

The Gyeongnam Ilbo Company was founded in February 1909, several months before the publication of the first issue. Its office was based out of Jinju-gun.

It printed its first issue on October 15, 1909. Its first publication was praised by newspapers like The Korea Daily News and even by several in China and Japan. Its first president was Kim Hong-cho. Its first lead writer, Jang Ji-yŏn, was the former president of another Korean newspaper Hwangsŏng Sinmun, and former head writer of the Vladivostok-based Korean newspaper Haejo Sinmun. The newspaper initially received financial support from local provincial authorities.

The paper was founded just before the 1910 Japanese annexation of Korea. Shortly after the annexation, the poet Hwang Hyŏn wrote a piece of poetry critical of the annexation entitled Chŏlmyŏngsi, and committed suicide in anguish. The Gyeongnam Ilbo published the poem, resulting in its publication being suspended for ten days. Thereafter, because of Japanese censorship, it avoided discussing politics and mostly focused on social issues and educating the Korean people. They founded a night school around November 1910, where Jang taught Classical Chinese.

The paper struggled with its finances. It initially published every day (implied by the term "Ilbo", meaning "daily"), but it struggled to do so. After its 20th issue, it began publishing every other day. Around the time of its start, it had a circulation of around 2,000. However, it struggled to increase its subscriber count and attract advertisers. Jang resigned due to increasing Japanese pressure on the paper on August 30, 1913. Publication of the paper was halted in January 1915, with issue No. 887 being its final issue. The only other daily Korean-language newspaper in Korea around this time was the Maeil Sinbo, which was de facto operated by the colonial government.

Second run
The newspaper was restarted by a new staff on March 1, 1946, after the end of the colonial period. It was notably right-leaning and anti-communist. Heo Man-che took the lead in restarting the paper. He was reportedly so passionate about it, that he sold his food company to fund the paper's development.

The paper was heavily involved in the November 22, 1949 establishment of the annual Gaecheon Art Festival, then known as the Yeongnam Art Festival. The festival still runs today. The newspaper funded the event until the 11th installment, and much of the work done for preparing the festival was performed by the newspaper's staff.

During the 1950–1953 Korean War, the newspaper struggled to keep running. Its headquarters and printing equipment was destroyed. The paper, which once staunchly supported first President of South Korea Syngman Rhee, began to criticize it as Rhee tightened control over the country. As a result, on July 26, 1952, armed assailants raided one of their offices and destroyed their equipment and materials. It was closed for seven weeks.

In 1961, after Park Chung Hee seized power in the May 16 coup, the military government demanded that Seol Chang-su, the president of the newspaper since 1952, resign. The paper began publishing more on local stories and culture around this time. On November 25, 1980, the newspaper was made to close after a government order was issued for there to be one newspaper per province. It was merged into the Kyongnam Shinmun.

Third run
The newspaper was restarted by a new staff in January 1989. It constructed a new office in Sangpyeong-dong. It initially used the name "Shin Gyeongnam Ilbo", because of legal restrictions on using the original name. It eventually acquired the rights to use the name, and began printing under it on January 1, 2000 with its No. 13691 issue. In 2003, a copy of the First issue of the Gyeongnam Ilbo was found in an old house in Sugok-myeon, and was designated South Gyeongsang Province Tangible Cultural Heritage No. 482 on August 6, 2009.