The Dong-A Ilbo has partnered with international news companies such as The New York Times of the United States, The Asahi Shimbun of Japan and The People's Daily of China.

It has correspondents stationed in major cities worldwide, including Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, Beijing, Tokyo, Cairo and Paris.

[6] Japan increasingly pressured Korean newspapers to close, and by the time of Korea's official colonization in 1910, only a handful were left.

The colonial government violently suppressed the protests, then began making significant policy changes to prevent future unrest.

[6] Journalist (and later Vice President of South Korea) Kim Seong-su, on behalf of a staff of 78 people, successfully applied for the paper's creation.

[8] Park Yung-hyo served as the paper's first president, and Yang Gi-tak and Yu Kŭn (유근; 柳瑾) as its editorial directors (편집감독).

[8] During its six-page phase, it briefly published two issues per day, in the mornings and evenings, making it the first Korean newspaper to do so.

On April 15, just two weeks after its first issue, it published an article about March First Movement–related protests in Pyongyang, which caused its publication to be briefly suspended.

[8] In September 1920, it published an article that was deemed insulting to the Imperial Regalia of Japan, and the paper was put on indefinite suspension.

The Dong-A Ilbo published critical articles about pro-Japanese Korean organizations, which led to backlash from those groups.

One of these groups (각파유지연맹; 各派有志聯盟) requested a meeting with the newspaper's president Song Jin-woo and executive director (취체역) Kim Seong-su to the restaurant Sikdowon.

[8] In April 1930, it republished a letter from an American journalist that advocated for the Korean independence movement, which resulted in a suspension until September.

The morning after the publication in August 1936, about 10 journalists of Dong-a Ilbo were hauled off to the police station where they were beaten and tortured.

It censored and applied increasing pressure on The Dong-A Ilbo; in one instance, the government ordered the paper to remove an image of the Hibiscus syriacus flower (무궁화; mugunghwa; a symbol of Korea) from its logo.

[13][14] Much of the printing equipment and staff for the Korean-owned papers was transferred to either the Maeil Sinbo or the de facto official Japanese-language publication Keijō Nippō.

In December, the newspaper published an article that drew the ire of protestors, which caused 1,000 people to demonstrate at its offices.

Park's administration imposed restrictions on the press; The Dong-A Ilbo was allowed to print 36 pages per week in the evenings.

By the 1970s, The Dong-A Ilbo was seen as one of the most prestigious newspapers in Korea to work for, in part because of its historical role as a vanguard in the Korean independence movement.

The Park Chung Hee administration then contacted various companies that advertised in The Dong-A Ilbo, and pressured them to break their contracts with the newspaper.

[22][8] On February 28, 1975, management of the paper held a meeting where it was agreed that they would fire some staff members who were the most vocal about freedom of the press.

Over a hundred of the paper's staff protested the firings, and staged a sit-in and hunger strike in the company offices.

The publication held events such as cooking schools and wives' picnic providing women a place to socialize outside of the home.

Dong-a Ilbo also prints global editions in 90 cities such as Washington DC, London, Paris, Frankfurt, etc., and has 22 branches worldwide including LA, Vancouver, Osaka.

DongA Books has brought to Korea many international bestsellers and award-winning literature as well as creating million sellers on its own.

From the success of the on-line content, the company also started its mobile services allowing readers to seek out the news wherever and whenever they are.

Dong-a Ilbo holds annual competition of high quality as well as hosting many cultural exhibitions.