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Seoul Economic Daily

South Korean pro-business, center-right

Owned byJang family; currently managed by Jang Jae-min, third son of founder Jang Ki-young. Incorporated as an independent company in 2000, separated from the Hankook Ilbo Media Group.
FundingCommercial — primarily advertising revenue and subscriptions; operates as a private corporation with roughly 300 employees and annual revenues of approximately 71.6 billion won (~$52 million USD).
On the administrationmixed

Background

Seoul Economic Daily was founded on August 1, 1960, by Jang Ki-young — then a senior Bank of Korea official — as a sister publication of the general-interest Hankook Ilbo, making it South Korea's first dedicated economic newspaper. During the rapid industrialization of the 1960s and 1970s, the paper positioned itself as a bridge between the business community and the public, expanding into securities, real estate, and industry coverage. It was incorporated as a separate legal entity on February 11, 1997, and fully separated from the Hankook Ilbo Media Group in October 2000, giving the Jang family direct control of the title as an independent operation. In 2013–2014, Chang Jae-ku, who had chaired the broader Hankook Ilbo Media Group, was convicted of embezzling roughly 45.6 billion won from both Hankook Ilbo and Seoul Economic Daily, a scandal that led the Hankook Ilbo side of the empire to be sold to Dongwha Enterprise; Seoul Economic Daily, however, remained under Jang family management. The paper opened one of Korea's first economic websites in January 1996 and now operates an English-language edition at en.sedaily.com. Its editorial orientation reflects the pro-business, market-oriented priorities common to South Korean economic dailies — comparable in posture to Maeil Business Newspaper and the more explicitly conservative Korea Economic Daily. Coverage of the Trump administration's second term focuses on the economic stakes for South Korea: tariff escalations, the $350 billion Korean investment pledge, U.S. trade investigations, and conflicts of interest tied to Trump's personal trades in Coupang shares while his officials pursued trade complaints against Korea.

Sources

  1. Seoul Economic Daily – About Us
  2. Seoul Economic Daily – NamuWiki
  3. Hankook Ilbo Media Group – Wikipedia
  4. Hankook Ilbo – Wikipedia
  5. The Seoul Economic Daily – Wikidata
  6. Trump Restores 25% Tariffs on Korea After Prime Minister's US Visit – Seoul Economic Daily
  7. Trump Traded Coupang Stock as U.S. Attacked Korea's "Discrimination" – Seoul Economic Daily
  8. Korea Must Brace for Trump's "Post-War Bill" – Seoul Economic Daily
  9. Starter Kit: South Korea's Media Landscape – Blue Roof Politics

Profile compiled 2026-07-06; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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