From voice of newborn republic to heralding a developed nation

Entering its 60th anniversary, Herald Corp. has always sought to play a unique role in Korean society.  

The Korea Herald and The Herald Business, the flagship enterprises of the company, have firmly secured their respective statuses as the leading English daily in South Korea and a premier newspaper delivering business and financial news.

Foundation

It all began in 1953, when South Korea’s then-President Syngman Rhee sought the creation of an English-language newspaper to be the mouthpiece of the infant republic.

This led to the creation of the Korean Information Service, a government-funded newspaper company that published a four-page tabloid called The Korean Republic.

Gal Hong-gi, the first chairman of the Korean Information Service, said he suggested the paper’s name and President Rhee himself approved it. Rhee originally considered “The New Republic” for the paper’s name but found out that a left-leaning magazine in the United States was already using it.

The newspaper was to act as the window between the outside world and the country still rising from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War.

“The fundamental purpose of The Korean Republic is to serve as a dependable source of world news for our readers in Korea and of Korean news for the foreigners in our minds and for our readers abroad,” the paper declared in its inaugural edition published on Aug. 15, 1953.

True to the paper’s founding purpose, the editorials of the paper focused on presenting South Korea’s standpoint to the world.

In “What Koreans Want,” a five-piece series on the opinion page published in September 1953, the editors explained in detail how South Korea yearned for unification and freedom for everyone on the Korean Peninsula.

Despite a staff of just three reporters, a managing editor and one photographer, the innovative techniques of The Korean Republic stood out. It used the first Linotype machine to be brought into country for typesetting.

The Korean Republic went through a series of major changes in 1960s, the biggest of which was renaming the newspaper to The Korea Herald.

In the 1970s, while The Korea Herald was solidifying itself as the representative English media of the country, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae was mulling the establishment of a newspaper specializing in in-depth business information.

“(The government officials) were aiming to make a newspaper which allowed the reader to obtain information and knowledge about the world market,” said Oh won-cheol, an economic adviser for then-President Park Chung-hee.

In September 1973, Naeway Economic Daily ― the forerunner of The Herald Business ― was co-founded by the government and the Korea International Trade Association.

The name “Naeway” ― a Korean word meaning “inside and outside” ― was selected because the newspaper would deal with worldwide business news.

KITA, the majority shareholder of Naeway Economic Daily, acquired The Korea Herald in September 1978, forming Naeway Economic Daily-The Korea Herald Corp.

Forced shutdown and revival of Naeway Economic Daily

The late 1970s and the early 1980s were turbulent times: President Park Chung-hee was assassinated in 1979, and his successor Choi Kyu-hah’s administration was overthrown by Chun Doo-hwan the following year.

Chun’s junta government ― which seized power through a coup a year earlier ― attempted to tighten its grip on the country by controlling the media outlets. More than 1,000 reporters were fired and 64 news outlets shut down or merged in November 1980.

Naeway Economic Daily was among the media forced to close that year. It published its last edition on Nov. 25, 1980, and its operation was absorbed into its sister newspaper The Korea Herald.

Indication of rebirth emerged eight years later when iron-fisted President Chun stepped down after a series of pro-democracy protests. Several newspapers that were shut down were back in business and new business newspapers began sprouting up.

By then, The Korea Herald’s management had undergone some changes. After the company doubled the authorized capital stock from 2 million to 4 million shares, Dainong Corp. became the new majority shareholder. As a result, the paper’s operation was transferred from the government to the private sector for the first time since its creation.

The board of directors started pushing for the revival of its sister paper in early 1988. On June 1, 1989, the revived Naeway Economic Daily published its first edition in nearly nine years.

From Herald Media to Herald Corp. and beyond

Naeway Economic Daily became an evening newspaper in 1993, and computerized the entire printing process in 1999.

The wave of change found a new outlet online in 1995 when The Korea Herald launched its website, providing the first online English news service in the country. It has since maintained the top spot among English newspapers in online readership.

To expand readership, the company began publishing The Junior Herald, an English paper for teenagers and children, in 2004.

The management itself went through a major overhaul in December 2002, when entrepreneur Jungwook Hong acquired the company.

In May 2003, Naeway Economic Daily changed its name to The Herald Business. Later that month, the board of directors decided to change the company name to Herald Media.

Regardless of name changes, the innovative engine of the company never wavered.

The company decided to go forward with another renovation in August 2012, adopting the name Herald Corp., which highlights its ambition to venture into other fields.

Not to be content with just success in the newspaper industry, Herald Corp. is now looking to transcend the boundaries of news outlets and transform into a cultural conglomerate, covering diverse fields such as art, the environment and entertainment.

The corporation is now making headway in the non-media business by setting up firms such as EcoChem and Herald Artday, and holding the Herald Design Forum.

Herald EcoChem, launched in May, is a polyethylene-based sheet film manufacturing plant in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. Herald Artday offers opportunities to enjoy or buy art pieces via auctions, and is already among the leaders in the online art auction market.

Herald Design Forum, which kicked off last year, is an annual event where prominent international design gurus are invited to talk about the latest trends and the future of design.

Herald Corp.’s future-oriented view is reflected in the English Villages it runs in Seoul, Busan, Geoje, Ansan and Mokpo. The institutes aim to provide fun and effective learning opportunities for students across the nation.

In an era when the pace of change exceeds even the perception of the beholder, Herald Corp. continues to make efforts to stay ahead of the pack. The company always strives to be one step ahead in spearheading changes in media and in society.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)