[2] It was one of a series of newspapers that was founded by Koreans in Vladivostok, and was preceded by the 1908 Haejo sinmun and 1908–1910 Taedong kongbo.
[4] Since the late 19th century, Koreans moved into the Russian Far East in search of economic opportunities.
[5][3][2] The newspaper's predecessors were staunch advocates of the movement, and were both forced to close under Japanese pressure.
[10] It employed as its head writer the Korean independence activist and historian Shin Chae-ho.
Shin had previously written for the Hwangsŏng sinmun and Taehan Maeil Sinbo by this point.
[2][12] On September 17, 1911, during the midst of an internal dispute in Gwoneophoe,[9] around 15,000 pieces of movable type used to publish the newspaper were stolen by the pro-Japanese Korean spy Ŏm Insŏp [ko].