A Study on the Operation of Maeil-Sinbo by Gyeongseong Ilbo Company and its Character in 1910's

This article focuses on the Gyeongseong Ilbo Company, which operated the Maeil-Sinbo, the organ of the Japanese Government-General, and attempts to reveal the characteristics of its operation and to understand the perception and utilization of the Maeil-Sinbo.<br/> Soho Tokutomi, who led the reorganization of the Korean media after the forced merger, absorbed the Maeil-Sinbo into Gyeongseong Ilbo Company in 1910 through an agreement. In 1913, Tokutomi signed a joint venture agreement with Governor General Terauchi, which confirmed the organizational form of Gyeongseong Ilbo Company. Due to the joint venture agreement, the Gyeongseong Ilbo Company was an organ of the Governor-General’s Office in content, but in form, it was like a regular newspaper company. In other words, without subsidies from the government, it had to operate in a commercialistic manner to generate profits. Under these conditions, a dispute arose between Tokutomi and Terauchi over privatization in 1916, which led Gyeongseong Ilbo Company to focus on the profitability of the Maeil-Sinbo and attempt to become “independent” by generating profits through the Maeil-Sinbo. However, this attempt was only possible in the context of the 1910s journalistic situation where there was no competition, and it was as if another limitation was built into the Maeil-Sinbo.