The Korea Herald continues to evolve as country’s top English daily

When The Korea Herald published its inaugural edition six decades ago, it pledged to become a bridge between Korea and the world.

Through the days of suppression under dictatorial rule and swift changes in the media industry sparked by the Internet revolution, the paper has stood firm as the country’s leading English daily while keeping its initial vow.

In early 1953, the U.S.-educated then-President Syngman Rhee ordered then-Public Information Office director Gal Hong-kee to establish a new, government-funded, English-language newspaper company, the Korean Information Service. Within months, the English daily was founded under the name The Korean Republic ― later to become The Korea Herald ― on Aug. 15, 1953.

The front-page story of the first issue of The Korean Republic covered Rhee’s national address to mark the Aug. 15 Liberation Day, in which he called for an early reunification of North and South Korea despite the armistice agreement of the Korean War in July 1953.

Since then, The Korea Herald has implemented innovation of its content and design, and upgrades of its systems.

As its readership expanded, the paper increased the number of pages from four to eight pages in 1975, and later to 12 pages in 1986. Currently, the paper publishes 20 pages on weekdays.

Along with the rising quantity of pages, the content was enriched as business and national news coverage significantly increased. The paper’s content had initially centered on news about the country’s government, ideology and diplomatic relations between Korea and the U.S. or Japan, rather than domestic issues.

The paper held its first “English-language Speech Contest for Students” in 1954 to discover young people with distinguished talent and to promote the newborn company’s brand.

To draw participation and attention of foreigners residing in Korea, the company held a “Korean Oral Contest for Foreigners” and “Korean Music Contest for Foreigners” in 1966 and 1968, respectively.

In 1973, foreigners took part in publishing a new section called “Forerunner of Change.” The one-page section was written by foreigners who witnessed or helped the Joseon Dynasty make its international debut.

The paper followed the country’s historic moments; the 10th Asian Games was one of the events for which the company published the official English-language newsletter.

The publishing process of the paper was fully computerized in 1996 as the firm adopted a new typesetting system including Macintosh computers and color scanners.

Between 2008 and 2012, The Korea Herald published 14 volumes of books. The collection featured in-depth analyses of key Korean issues, including Dokdo and the Korean Wave, and various social and financial topics written by experts and staff reporters.

One of the most notable achievements in 2011 was the culture desk’s special series called “Culture Power Korea.” With a mission to promote deeper understanding of Korean history and culture, the staff reporters visited cities around the globe considered strongholds of Korean culture and Korean studies and interviewed culture and arts experts.

Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the paper’s establishment in 2013, the latest revamp for the paper took place in August 2012, aiming to offer visually sophisticated and reader-friendly content.

The paper strengthened its specialized sections. In addition to the existing sections such as Diplomatic Circuit, Expat Living, Voice and Sharing, The Korea Herald now provides more in-depth, theme-based news through Science, Education and Environment pages as well as Newsmaker, a feature on the day’s most newsworthy person, company or organization.

The paper’s focus on innovation extended to its online platform in 1995 as the first among the nation’s English newspapers to launch its own website.

The website ranking surged enough to solidify the company’s online footing. It ranked first among English-language media in Korea throughout 2012, according to rankey.com, an online ranking site.

To maintain its top position on the news site chart and to provide readers better online news, Herald Corp. CEO and publisher Lee Young-man has carried out a “digital first” strategy to renovate the website and expand media platforms since he took office in April.

The journalist-turned-CEO stressed that readers now expect to have the whole world at their fingertips via their smartphones and tablet PCs.

The Korea Herald has expanded its news platform from online and mobile to diverse media such as social networking services.

In 2010, The Korea Herald also began providing news content for Samsung Electronics’ e-book reader and Galaxy Tab. The previous year, an app for iPhone was introduced, targeting college students, businesspeople and foreign readers interested in Korea.

On July 9, 2012, the country’s biggest English-language newspaper launched a new app for Android smartphones amid great demand from customers and Android’s surge in the mobile market.

The app, based on the editorial, education and design know-how of The Korea Herald, features not just news, but also useful English educational content. It is the first news app in Korea that fully incorporates educational content, suiting the needs of users who want to combine the news-reading experience with English learning.

Reflecting the growing trend for sharing news on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, the website provides sharing options which enable visitors to easily share interesting articles with their friends via Twitter and other popular sharing tools through a simple click of the mouse.

The Korea Herald opened accounts on Twitter (@thekoreaherald) and Facebook (facebook.com/thekoreaherald) which are now collectively followed by more than 15,000 users.

To mark the 60th anniversary, the company is planning to host various events as well as a series of articles with topics on diverse facets of Korean society.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)