[1] It is not the first newspaper to be published in Korea; that was the 1881 Chōsen Shinpō, which was primarily written in both Japanese and Classical Chinese.

[3] Korea had then just emerged from centuries of isolationism around this point, and ambassadors who visited foreign countries observed that general-interest modern newspapers that published on international issues were useful.

To this end, they brought several Japanese reporters and printing experts as consultants and returned to Korea.

[1][3] Park and Yu Kil-chun, who were both considered by the mainstream government to be radical reformists around that time, initially took the lead in preparing for the publication of the paper.

[1][3] Most Japanese consultants were sent back to Japan, with only Inoue Kakugorō [ja; ko] staying behind to supervise operations.

[3] However, it closed around December 1884, when the headquarters and printing equipment were destroyed by fire during the failed Gapsin Coup.

Domestic issues consisted of central and local government announcements, as well as private reporting on current happenings.

Foreign affairs covered global geopolitics, military technology, and modern defense.