37th Founding Anniversary Essay A Heart That Won't Let Go, Even When Roots Are Exposed

Below the western fortress wall of Suwon Hwaseong stands a single pine tree.

Its trunk is cracked like a turtle's shell, and its thick roots protrude from the earth, spreading in all directions along the slope. Behind it, old stones are stacked in layers. The roots grip the slope, and the branches bend toward the other side of the fortress wall.

Exposed roots mean the tree has lost the soil that once wrapped them. Yet the tree did not fall. Rather, it holds onto the remaining soil more tightly. As if saying it will never let go.

This pine tree stands beside the 'Seo-ichi' of Suwon Hwaseong's western fortress wall. It is one of the bastions created when the fortress was built in 1796. A bastion is a fortification designed to protrude from the fortress wall to observe and defend against approaching enemies. Standing within the fortress while stepping forward, it was a position to see places that had been hidden from view.

It is the exact same position where Suwon Ilbo stands.

Observing Suwon from within Suwon. Looking at alleyways invisible from a distance, meeting the people of Suwon behind the data on a desk, and bringing attention and questions to things that would otherwise pass by unremarked.

Suwon Ilbo was founded on September 30, 1989. Today marks thirty-seven years.

During this time, most of what Suwon Ilbo recorded has been the affairs of Suwon. From Paldalun Gate and Suwon Station, the Sports Complex and Big Bird, traditional markets and government offices, to bustling streets and the daily lives of ordinary Suwon residents. There were occasional national incidents, and there were common events that would have been merely a line of news elsewhere.

The daily life of Suwon's people is the very history of Suwon.

For some, a single bus route changes the course of a day's work, and a single crosswalk in front of a school determines a child's safety. For one family, a single old alley shop closing means more than just a livelihood. A single simple administrative decision can be the conclusion of a long-cherished wish that some Suwon residents have waited years for. Suwon Ilbo has been there beside them.

During this time, the nature of the soil covering Suwon Ilbo's roots has changed several times.

When print newspapers moved to the internet, Suwon Ilbo did not remain fixed in old ways. In 2001, it became the first regional media outlet to open a citizen reporter program; in 2005, it received Gyeonggi Province's first internet newspaper registration number, Gyeonggi-A00001. In 2008, it was the first in the Gyeonggin region to submit articles to portals, and in 2014, it became the first daily local newspaper in the nation to declare a digital-first strategy.

Walking first does not always lead to a bed of roses.

Readers began encountering articles through portals, where headlines were read before the media outlet's name. Fewer Suwon residents held paper newspapers in their hands, and there was no guarantee of Suwon Ilbo's place on mobile phones. Walking first sometimes meant the soil covering the roots disappeared sooner than for others.

Now the ground is shifting once again.

Artificial intelligence analyzes vast amounts of data and quickly produces fully-formed articles. Much of what was human work until yesterday is no longer the exclusive domain of humans. The notion of 'information only we know' and 'content that can only be created by our writing,' which media outlets have long relied upon, is rapidly becoming outdated.

Suwon Ilbo will boldly move forward this time too. Just as it crossed from print to the internet, it will meet the new era head-on and confront it first. As it has always done.

Yet there is also a belief that some things do not change no matter how much the times change.

Machines are not alive. They do not endure the cold air of early morning markets, nor do they stand in alleyways where monsoon rains pour down. They do not listen to the words of parents waiting for children in front of schools, nor do they first ask citizens lingering in front of civic affairs offices what brings them there. Whatever era comes, whatever remarkable tools are created, the breath of Suwon's people must ultimately be confirmed by people.

How much soil remains beneath the roots is not visible from a distance. One must go directly to see. Finding and checking what data and screens cannot capture, asking questions, confirming facts, and sometimes correcting them. This is precisely the work Suwon Ilbo must not neglect.

Suwon Ilbo cannot cover all affairs of Suwon. Yet it can take on one part of it. Taking down whispered voices, asking those in power once more, recording the stories of Suwon residents who feel wronged, and documenting things others have overlooked—that one part.

Rather than grand words about changing the world, always being there to stand beside Suwon's people, a place they can rely on whenever they need it. That is Suwon Ilbo's purpose. The belief that Suwon's affairs must be recorded by Suwon Ilbo. The conviction that someone must hear even small voices. The resolve that if something is not resolved today, we will ask again tomorrow.

Suwon Ilbo has spent thirty-seven springs, summers, autumns, and winters with Suwon.

A tree cannot pass through a year with only warm seasons. Only by enduring spring when new shoots emerge, summer when branches grow, autumn when leaves fall, and harsh winter does a single ring of growth remain in the wood.

In Suwon, with Suwon's people.

Suwon Ilbo has not only passed through good seasons. There have been times when the soil beneath has been worn away and roots have been exposed. Yet it stands here still. Thirty-seven years have accumulated, one season after another, each one endured.

Looking up again at the pine tree below the fortress wall. Its roots are fully exposed, yet it does not release its grip on the slope. Its branches still stretch beyond the fortress wall. Within its frame, the seasons spent in this place must remain as rings of growth.

Suwon Ilbo seeks to do the same. Even if the way newspapers are read changes and the tools used to create articles transform, it will not let go of Suwon and its people. Taking on one part of this city, it will add rings of growth in a place where Suwon's residents can always come and lean on it, whatever season it may be.

Suwon Ilbo's roots are planted in Suwon, and what has held those roots is Suwon's people. A heart that won't let go, even when roots are exposed.

Now the thirty-eighth ring of growth begins.