황성신문사의 성립과 신문사 초기 구성원의 결집 양상

Previous studies on the nature of Hwangseong Sinmun newspaper(皇城新聞) regarded it as a newspaper issued by “reformed Confucian scholars(改新儒學者),” but the newspaper was first issued when People’s Joint Association(만민공동회) was in operation by the Independence Club(독립협회), whose members were major players on the newspaper. Recognizing these points, this study set out to examine the establishment process of the newspaper and the political nature of its early members not fully addressed in previous studies.The study first looked into the process of the newspaper being first issued. The newspaper agency was founded based on the Gyeongseong Sinmun newspaper(京城新聞) agency established on March 2, 1898. Gyeongseong Sinmun newspaper issued in 100% Hangul was announced as a newspaper for commerce, but it issued no such content. The newspaper even printed the content in line with the People’s Joint Association. One example was the concept of civil rights in Seoyugyeonmun(西遊見聞)by Yu Gil-jun(유길준) that was in exile in Japan as a state criminal.As the atmosphere of the People’s Joint Association was highlighted, the Gyeongseong Sinmun agency changed the title from Gyeongseong Sinmun newspaper to Daehan Hwangseong Sinmun newspaper(대한황성신문), which was also issued in 100% Hangul by inheriting the system of Gyeongseong Sinmun newspaper. The words “Daehan” and “Hwangseong” represented the independence of Korea clearly and made clear the political nature of the newspaper. The newspaper agency became a corporation before long and tried to recruit various individuals that participated in People’s Joint Association as its members.Being concerned about the possibility that the association’s atmosphere would be overheated, however, the original members of the newspaper agency changed the title again to Hwangseong Sinmun newspaper, which was issued in both Korean and Chinese characters. This system, however, produced sentences close to Chinese characters in the newspaper. Only the traditional intellectuals that were proficient with Chinese characters were able to read the newspaper. Reflected in this change of the newspaper system was the judgment of its original members that saw the overheated demonstration of the association with the participation of even the lower class negatively.The study then examined the political nature of the newspaper members. Yu Gil-jun contacted members of the Independence Club during the years of the People’s Joint Association and discussed the future directions of the independence movement with them. They were in the soft line of the Independence Club. The major members of the newspaper from the Gyeongseong Sinmun agency to the Hwangseong Sinmun agency were categorized in this soft line based on their perceptions of civil rights. There were circumstantial pieces of evidence that the newspaper was profoundly influenced by Yu’s ideas : Gyeongseong Sinmun newspaper printed the texts about civil rights from Yu’s Seoyugyeonmun; Hwangseong Sinmun newspaper printed a similar editorial about civil rights; and major figures of the Hwangseong Sinmun agency were involved in the coup plotted by Yu in 1902.Finally, the study examined the human composition of the soft line in the Independence Club that formed a major part in the Hwangseong Sinmun agency. The examination effort began with the gathering of exiles in Japan in July, 1896. Some individuals exiled to Japan after the political incidents since the Gabo Reform of 1894, and they were categorized into three groups by Japanese officials : they were the force of Park Yeong-ho(박영효), the force of Daewongun(대원군), and the force of Kim Hong-jip(김홍집) cabinet. These three groups were integrated into one to return to the political world and discussed their future schedules with their parties in Korea. The central figure of the force of Daewongun and Kim Hong-jip cabinet was Yu Gil-jun, who banded together with Daewongun’s retainers and the figures that rose in the Kim Hong-jip cabinet in Korea. They rallied together as the soft line during the days of the Independence Club, and their positions were represented by Gyeongseong Sinmun, Daehan Hwangseong Sinmun newspaper and Hwangseong Sinmun newspaper.