The Chosun Ilbo newspaper was founded on 5 March 1920[10] by Sin Sogu with the financial support of the Daejong Business Association.

[13] On 6 April 2019, Deutsche Welle described The Chosun Ilbo as "an outlet notorious for its dubious and politically motivated" reporting on North Korea.

[19][20][21][22][23][24] However, two days later, on 2 June 2019, the top diplomat was seen at a concert sitting a few seats away from North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.

[25][26][27] The Educational Broadcasting System's popular instructor Choi Tae-seong, sued a Chosun Ilbo reporter for publishing an article that defamed him as a supporter of North Korea.

[28] The Chosun Ilbo has been accused of being "chinilbanminjokhaengwi" (친일반민족행위, 親日反民族行爲, "pro-Japanese anti-nationalist activist"), because of controversy over its advocacy of the Korea under Japanese rule.

[5] In 2002, the prosecution sought a sentence of seven years in prison and a fine of 12 billion won for The Chosun Ilbo chairman Bang Sang-hoon, who was indicted on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement.

On June 29 2006, he was indicted for evading 2.35 billion won in gift taxes by transferring 65,000 shares of The Chosun Ilbo to his son through a nominal trust, and for misusing 2.57 billion won in company funds under the names of family members to increase capital in affiliates like Jogwang Publishing and Sports Chosun.