In January, 1892, Korea Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church published a magazine in English named The Korean Repository at the Press of the Methodist Episcopal Mission established in the basement of Paichai School. The thirty-seven page publicat...
In January, 1892, Korea Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church published a magazine in English named The Korean Repository at the Press of the Methodist Episcopal Mission established in the basement of Paichai School. The thirty-seven page publication consisted of five contributed articles and editorial section. The editors were Franklin Ohlinger (1845-1919) and his wife, who came to Korea after they had been missionaries in China for many years. As a general magazine rather than a special one, it treated all about Korea, from the past to the present, from the beginning.
The author examines the characteristics and significance of The Repository by reviewing all the process from the publication to the suspension. First of all, Ohlinger made it as an all-around magazine publishing basic research papers on Korean language, culture, and history as well as articles on its current situation. It was not his intention to fill it with writings about Christian missionary work in Korea. Secondly, its new editors, Henry G. Appenzeller (1858-1902) and George H. Jones (1867-1919), made it clear that its two interests would be “Christian mission” and “research on Korea.” On the one hand, mission-related articles increased, and on the other hand, academic papers on Korean language, culture, and history were steadily contributed. Finally, it was not discontinuance but one year of pause that Appenzeller and Jones agreed to, although it had been never republished since December, 1898. Its editors and main contributors published two magazines in order to succeed it, in other words, Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and The Korea Review.