Journalist, first president of the Hankyoreh newspaper, known as the 'godfather of dismissed journalists'
| Life | 1927 ~ 2001 |
| Era | 현대 |
| Clan | 은진 송씨 |
Song Geon-ho (pen name Cheongam), from Okcheon in North Chungcheong, was a journalist and writer who served as editor-in-chief of the Dong-A Ilbo and first president of the Hankyoreh.
Born in Okcheon in 1927, he joined journalism in 1953 at Daehan News Agency and worked at papers including the Chosun Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo and Kyunghyang Shinmun. He became Dong-A Ilbo editor-in-chief in 1974 but resigned while urging a proper resolution of the advertising-suppression affair.
He co-authored Haebangjeonhusa-ui Insik in 1979 and in 1980 was jailed and mistreated by the new military regime in the Kim Dae-jung conspiracy case. He chaired the Council for Democratic Press Movement from 1984, was involved in exposing the 1986 press guidelines, and led the founding of the Hankyoreh in 1988 as its first president.
He fought Parkinson's disease from 1990 and died in 2001. He received the Gold Crown Order of Cultural Merit in 1999 and, posthumously, the Order of Civil Merit (Mugunghwa).