Monthly Chosun

The magazine was first published in June 1963 as Sedae.[lower-alpha 1] Its first editor-in-chief was Oh Jong-sik, although the position changed hands a number of times. The magazine contained 350 pages of A5 size paper. It compiled essays from various writers on topics relating to South Korean current issues. It had a reputation of being a mostly academic publication, although the magazine's stated target audience was people in their 20s.[6]

The Chosun Ilbo Company had wanted to publish a monthly magazine for some time, and decided to acquire Sedae to do so. They then renamed the magazine to the Monthly Chosun.[3][1]

The first issue of the Monthly Chosun was published in April 1980.[1][3] The issue uses vertical type and features a guest essay by Ho Jong, the 6th prime minister of South Korea.[3][1] After the acquisition, the staff made an effort to change the magazine's reputation of being a stiff academic publication to that of a current events publication with more general appeal.[1][3] To this end, beginning in April 1981, they made an effort to include more color and black-and-white images in the magazine.[3] Beginning in 1982, reporters like Cho Gab-je and Oh Hyo-jin produced investigative reports on South Korean government scandals.[1][7] Beginning with the magazine's third anniversary on April 1983, the editors began using computerized typesetting. This reduced the time it took to produce the magazine, and contributed to its ability to include more recent stories in each issue.[3]

The above changes led to a massive increase in popularity for the magazine. An article on the Kim Dae-jung kidnapping scandal from their October 1987 edition was printed over 405,000 times. The magazine became the first to publish the contents of a phone call that led to the arrests of former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo in the aftermath of the Coup d'état of December Twelfth. Bae Jin-yeong,[lower-alpha 2] current editor-in-chief of the magazine, alleged in 2021 that the magazine's publications during the late 1990s and early 2000s influenced government policies of the United States, South Korea, and Japan towards North Korea.[1]

Until the late 1980s, most newspapers and magazines in South Korea used vertical writing. However, after the publication of the Hankyoreh in 1988, which only used horizontal type, most newspapers changed to horizontal.[8] The Monthly Chosun resisted this trend until it finally switched on April 1999.[3]

In 2004, Cho Gab-je stepped down as editor-in-chief but maintained his role of president of the company. His replacement was Kim Yeon-gwang.[lower-alpha 3] The reception to Kim's ascension was lukewarm; it was seen as relatively sudden and surprising, as Kim was in a relatively junior position at the time. Cho and Kim released statements saying that they had prepared for the transition for some time, and that the style of the magazine would not change significantly.[7]

In 2021, it published its 500th edition.[1]