The Women's News

The Women's News (여성신문, 女性新聞) is a South Korean weekly newspaper and online news outlet founded in 1988, widely described as the country's first journalistic publication to adopt a feminist and gender-sensitive perspective. It grew out of the newsletter of the Women's Social Research Group (여성사회연구회), a circle that began in 1976 through the Christian Academy movement and published a bulletin also called Women's News between 1985 and 1987. After the June 29 Declaration of 1987 loosened press controls, the group's president, Lee Gye-kyung, moved to register a weekly women's media outlet with the Ministry of Culture and Public Information. Registration was granted on April 30, 1988, and the founding promoters' meeting of Women's News Co., Ltd. was held at the Korea Press Center on August 18, 1988, with Lee Gye-kyung elected as the first publisher. The company was structured as a citizen-shareholding joint-stock company, modeled on the Hankyoreh, which had launched in May 1988. The paper's stated mission from its founding was "women's movement through the printed page." It covers women's organizations and the women's movement, gender-equality policy, feminist culture, women's leadership, and social issues seen from women's perspectives, alongside practical lifestyle coverage of family, education, health, and leisure. It has been closely associated with major Korean women's-rights campaigns, including abolition of the family-head (hojuje) system, enactment of anti-sex-discrimination and sexual-violence legislation, recognition of unmarried mothers' custody rights, and public childcare. Its reporting on the Andong housewife case, the Hwanghon (late-life) divorce case, police sexual violence, and kinship sexual violence is cited as having helped reframe victims as subjects rather than perpetrators and contributed to legislative change. As a brand, The Women's News operates as both a media outlet and a convening platform. It runs or co-organizes the Gender Equality Culture Awards (양성평등문화상), begun in 2008 as the Woman Cultural Figure of the Year award, and the Women's Marathon, which started in 2001 as the first "Ajumma Marathon." It established the Women's Culture Network in March 2009 to support women in arts and culture, and in 1999 founded the Ajumma Solidarity (아키아연대). The paper introduced a Berliner format with issue 1425 (February 3, 2017), moving its publication day from Friday to Thursday. In November 2023 it became the first Korean outlet to add victim-support and secondary-harm prevention notices to articles about sexual violence. As of 2024 it marked its 36th anniversary and remains a reference archive for Korean women's history, publishing work by major women writers such as Park Kyongni, Park Wansuh, and Ko Jung-hee.

The Women's News traces its origins to the Women's Social Research Group (여성사회연구회), which began on July 24, 1976, out of activities at the Christian Academy. The group published a bulletin for its members called Women's News between 1985 and 1987, producing 40 issues in total. After the June 29 Declaration of 1987 eased the Chun Doo-hwan government's press controls, Lee Gye-kyung, then president of the research group and publisher of the bulletin, began preparations with colleagues to register a paid weekly women's media outlet with the Ministry of Culture and Public Information. On April 30, 1988, the group received a periodical publication business registration certificate, accelerating plans for the weekly. The publishing entity was set up as a "citizen-shareholding joint-stock company," the same form used by the Hankyoreh, which had launched on May 15, 1988. On August 18, 1988, at the Korea Press Center, Women's News Co., Ltd. held its founding promoters' meeting, inviting about 700 shareholders who had purchased ten or more shares. Lee Gye-kyung was elected the first publisher. A founding preparation committee of 20 members was launched, including Ko Jung-hee, Kim Sun-hwa, Kim Su-ja, Park Yeon-seon, Lee Sang-hwa, Lee Eun-young, Lee In-ho, Lee Jeong-ja, Chang Pil-wha, Jeon Pung-ja, Cho Hyung, Han Myung-sook, Hyun Geum-ja, and Lee Gye-kyung. The paper's early decades were closely tied to Korea's women's movement. It covered the Andong housewife case in issue 0 (October 28, 1988) and again in issue 9, reframing a woman who bit off an attacker's tongue as a victim rather than a perpetrator; she was acquitted the following February. It reported on the Hwanghon (late-life) divorce case of a 70-year-old woman suing her 90-year-old husband, conducting an exclusive interview and running a support campaign that ended in a Supreme Court victory in 2000. It campaigned for abolition of the family-head (hojuje) system, with reporters practicing the "use both parents' surnames" movement in the paper's pages, a first for Korean media. It covered police sexual violence against a bar hostess, the Kim Bu-nam case, kinship sexual violence, workplace sexual harassment, unmarried mothers' custody, and sexual violence against women with disabilities, often in sustained follow-up reporting that helped build momentum for the Sexual Violence Special Act and other legislation. In 1997, at the height of the presidential election, the paper convened 88 women's organizations for a women's policy debate with presidential candidates, broadcast live by KBS, which put ten major women's issues—including a women's ministry, gender quotas for ministers and proportional representatives, 12 weeks of maternity leave, pension rights for housewives, and a domestic violence prevention law—on the national agenda. A similar debate followed in 2000. Organizationally, the paper expanded its convening role. In April 1999 it founded Ajumma Solidarity (아키아연대), starting as the "New Housewife Campaign Promotion Headquarters," and co-hosted the first and second Ajumma Marathons. The Women's Marathon began in 2001 as the first Ajumma Marathon and has continued annually, hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and The Women's News and organized by the Women's Culture Network. The Gender Equality Culture Awards began in 2008 as the Woman Cultural Figure of the Year award and reached its 17th edition in 2024, organized by the Women's Culture Network and hosted by The Women's News. The Women's Culture Network was established in March 2009 to support women in arts and culture. In production terms, the paper adopted a Berliner format from issue 1425 (February 3, 2017) and moved its publication day from Friday to Thursday; the earlier tabloid variant had been decided at a workshop on Namiseom Island in August 1988 during founding preparations. In November 2023 the paper announced it would add victim-support and secondary-harm prevention notices to articles about sexual violence, the first such attempt in Korea. As of 2024 it marked its 36th anniversary and remains a key archive of Korean women's history, carrying advertisements and notices from groups such as the Korean Women's Associations United, the Women's Political Leaders' Bodyguard Unit, and Korea Women's Hot Line, and publishing fiction, columns, and interviews by prominent women writers including Park Kyongni, Park Wansuh, and Ko Jung-hee.

• Women's Social Research Group begins through Christian Academy activities

• The group's bulletin Women's News begins publication (through 1987, 40 issues)

• Receives periodical publication business registration from the Ministry of Culture and Public Information

• Founding promoters' meeting of Women's News Co., Ltd. held at Korea Press Center; Lee Gye-kyung elected first publisher

• Issue 0 covers the Andong housewife case

• Hosts presidential candidates' women's policy debate with 88 women's organizations, broadcast live by KBS

• Founds Ajumma Solidarity (아키아연대)

• Supreme Court victory in the Hwanghon divorce case after the paper's support campaign

• First Ajumma Marathon held, later the annual Women's Marathon

• Gender Equality Culture Awards begin as the Woman Cultural Figure of the Year award

• Women's Culture Network established

• Issue 1425 adopts Berliner format; publication day moves to Thursday

• Announces victim-support and secondary-harm prevention notices on sexual violence articles, a first in Korea

• Marks 36th anniversary; 17th Gender Equality Culture Awards

South Korea's first feminist and gender-perspective newspaper, positioning itself as a media outlet that changes the world through women's perspectives, environmental and life movements, global women's solidarity, and mutual respect between genders.

• 여성신문 weekly print edition

  Weekly newspaper in Berliner format since issue 1425 (2017), published on Thursdays.

• womennews.co.kr

  Digital news platform carrying current articles, interviews, columns, and archives.

• Gender Equality Culture Awards (양성평등문화상)

  Award for cultural artists contributing to gender equality, begun 2008, hosted by The Women's News and organized by the Women's Culture Network.

• Women's Marathon (여성마라톤)

  Annual marathon begun in 2001 as the Ajumma Marathon, hosted by Seoul Metropolitan Government and The Women's News.

1. 1여성신문 official websitewomennews.co.kr
2. 2The Women's News on Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3여성신문 - Wikipedia (Korean)ko.wikipedia.org