The Korea Times Newspaper South Korea published its first issue on Nov.1, 1950, at the height of the Korean War with the aim of publicizing the progress in the fratricidal war, inside and outside Korea. The publication of The Korea Times is the apple of the readers’ eye in English journalism, as it has survived as the longest running independent daily.

Dr. Helen Kim (1899-1970), the pioneer woman educator-journalist who was the first Korean president of Ewha Womans University, hit upon the idea of launching an English daily as a means to promote the nation abroad in 1949 when she assumed the university presidency. Her plan was translated into action under the aegis of then American-educated president Syngman Rhee.

The first issue came in the form of a two-page tabloid with an editorial headlined “A Really New Start,” noting the national need for promoting goodwill, mutual understanding and cooperation with all countries around the world. The initial editorial team was largely comprised of a handful of English literature professors from Kim’s Ewha University.