The Hankyoreh
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Cover of The Hankyoreh
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| Format | Broadsheet |
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| Owner(s) | Hankyoreh Newspaper Corp. |
| Publisher | Jung Yung-mu |
| Editor | Park Chan-soo |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Political alignment | moderate progressive |
| Headquarters | Mapo-gu, Seoul |
| Website | www.hani.co.kr |
The Hankyoreh (Hangul: 한겨레, literally "The Korean Nation", or "One Nation") is a daily newspaper in South Korea. It was established in 1988 after widespread purges forced out dissident journalists, and was envisioned as an alternative to existing newspapers, who were regarded as unduly influenced by the authoritarian government at the time. When it opened, it claimed to be "the first newspaper in the world truly independent of political power and large capital." As of 2016, it has been voted as the most trusted news organization by Korean journalists for nine consecutive years.
The newspaper was originally established as Hankyoreh Shinmun (Hangul: 한겨레신문) on May 15, 1988 by ex-journalists from the Dong-a Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo. At the time, government censors were in every newsroom, newspaper content was virtually dictated by the Ministry of Culture & Information, and newspapers had nearly the same articles on every page. Hankyoreh was intended to provide an independent, left-leaning, and nationalist alternative to mainstream newspapers regarded as blindly pro-business, pro-American, and opposed to national reunification. To underscore its patriotism and its break with tradition, the Hankyoreh became the first daily to completely reject the use of hanja and use only hangul; it continues to make only limited use of the Latin alphabet and limits the use of loanwords. It was also the first newspaper in Korea to be printed horizontally instead of vertically.
On the conflictual nature of the territorial sovereignty of the Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima in Japanese; Dokdo in Korean), although exceeded by the Chosun Ilbo in its coverage, the Hankyoreh's coverage has been described in “A Comparative Analysis of News Coverage of Dokdo Island” by Yoon Youngchul and E Gwangho as reflecting the foreign policy interest of South Korea versus the U.S or Japan. In general, on issues pertaining to national sovereignty, the Hankyoreh's editorial stance can be seen as one issuing aggressive criticism on a government's undemocratic attitude or United States unilateral policy towards Korea, the Korean peninsula or elsewhere. Where the Hankyoreh has criticized the Bush administration's foreign policies on numerous occasions, it has tended to be favorable on the Obama administration's foreign policies on North Korea. On the domestic front, Hankyoreh has been characterized as opposed to big business, and has been “nationalist, anti-American and anti-corporate.” The Hankyoreh does negate the philosophy of the free market economy, individual liberty and personal freedom, and has been critical of Korean big business and conglomerates that overwhelm the market, the Korean university entrance system, widening income disparities in Korean society, and the rapid opening and globalization of the Korean economy, while maintaining a generally favorable attitude towards organized labor, trade protectionism, and the redistribution of income.
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