| Owners: | Gwoneophoe |
| Political: | Korean independence movement |
| Language: | Korean |
| Publishing City: | Vladivostok |
| Publishing Country: | Russian Empire |
Kwŏnŏp Sinmun (;) was a weekly Korean-language newspaper published in Shinhanchon, Vladivostok, Russian Empire from 1912 to 1914. It was written in the native Korean script Hangul, and was named for and was the official publication of the Korean organization Gwoneophoe.
It was one of a series of newspapers that was founded by Koreans in Vladivostok, and was preceded by the 1908 Haejo Sinmun, 1908–1910 Taedong Kongbo, and 1911 Taeyangbo.[1] The newspaper's publication was ultimately ended by the outbreak of World War I.
The Independence Hall of Korea has transcriptions of some of the paper's articles online.[2]
Since the late 19th century, Koreans moved into the Russian Far East in search of economic opportunities. From then until 1910, Japan moved to consolidate its control over and eventually colonize Korea.[3] Vladivostok, especially the Korean enclave Shinhanchon, became a center for the Korean independence movement and independence activists in exile.[4] The newspaper's predecessors were staunch advocates of the movement, and were forced to close under Japanese pressure.
Gwoneophoe was a Korean organization in Vladivostok that was founded on June 1, 1911. That month, It absorbed the youth organization that published the newspaper Taeyangbo, and continued publishing the paper. However, the group suffered from internal political divisions early in its history, and in the midst of an internal dispute,[5] around 15,000 pieces of movable type used to publish the newspaper were stolen by the pro-Japanese Korean spy .[6] [7]
With help from the Russian government, Gwoneophoe eventually settled most of its differences and unified into a coalition. The Russian government then formally recognized the group, and approved the creation of a new newspaper for it.
Gwoneophoe established Kwŏnŏp Sinmun and published its first issue on May 5, 1912. It was published once per week on Sundays, and was written in pure Hangul.
was its founding leader.[8] Its first lead writer was independence activist and historian Shin Chae-ho. Its second was journalist,[9] and third Yi Sang Sul. Journalist frequently contributed to the paper. Many of these people were experienced journalists who had worked in a number of other Korean newspapers in the past. One of their staff was also fluent in Russian, and he handled translation for them.[10] The paper received support from a number of Russian people in the community. Their publisher was a Russian man named Dukov, and they received support from a Russian academic of East Asian studies who had some knowledge of Korean and Chinese.
The paper was one of Gwoneophoe's biggest expenses. Gwoneophoe received membership fees and donations, but it was insufficient for the paper's needs. Yi ended up contributing his own funds to keep the paper going. They moved offices in December 1912.
However, the paper and Gwoneophoe were forced to close upon the beginning of World War I. Japan and Russia joined the Allies, and created an agreement to crack down on Korean independence activists in Russia. The newspaper published its final issue, No. 126, on August 29, 1914.
It would not be until 1917 that another newspaper would be published for Koryo-saram. That was the Ch'ŏnggu Sinbo, which began publication after the beginning of the Russian Civil War eased political suppression of Korean organizations.[11]
The paper published on a variety of topics. It had editorials, reviews, local news, international news, translations and reprints of articles in other papers, and advertisements.
The paper fiercely advocated for Korean independence. Every August 29, the anniversary of Japan's annexation of Korea, it would publish a special issue in support of the independence movement. It shared pictures of An Jung-geun's assassination of former Japanese resident-general Itō Hirobumi, and advocated for the maintenance of the Korean language and culture among the diaspora. It petitioned the Russian government on a number of issues affecting the welfare and rights of Koreans. It once requested the creation of a Korean-language library. By request of the Russian government, it encouraged Koreans to acquire Russian citizenship, and highlighted the lives of Koreans who did so.