This study focuses on the process of newspaper creation and change in the newspaper Choren Chuo Jiho, and discusses the institutional newspaper controversy surrounding the campaign to strengthen the institutional newspaper and the characteristics of the culture page. This newspaper was first published after Korea’s national liberation as the organ paper of the Central General Headquarters of the Federation of Korean Residents in Japan(Choren), and it promoted the Central General Headquarters of the Choren during a short two-year period. Around 1949, the Choren’s Central General Headquarters, keenly aware of the need to strengthen its official newspaper, decided to make the national-language edition of the Choren Chuo Jiho a daily publication. The Central General Headquarters of Choren and its affiliated organizations promoted a large-scale campaign to strengthen the organization’s official newspaper, which led to consolidation and separation between them.
In addition, the culture page, which was established prior to the publication of the national language version of Choren Chuo Jiho, was written jointly by Zainichi Koreans and Japanese. In this culture page, cultural activities such as theatrical performances by Zainichi Koreans were mainly introduced and the North Korean regime was promoted.
本稿では、解放後、在日本朝鮮人連盟の中央総本部の機関紙として創刊された『朝連中央時報』の創刊過程と紙面の変化を中心に、機関紙強化運動をめぐる機関紙論争と文化欄の特徴について論じている。『朝連中央時報』は2年あまりの短い期間に、朝連の中央総本部の宣伝活動を担当した。1949年を前後に機関紙強化の必要性を痛感した朝連の中央総本部は、『朝連中央時報』を国文版の日刊化することを決定した。このような目標のもとで、朝連の中央総本部の傘下団体を含む形で、大々的な機関紙強化運動を推進するが、これによって朝連の中央総本部と傘下団体との間で統合と亀裂の様相が浮き彫りになる。
また、『朝連中央時報』が国文で発行される以前に設けられた文化欄を調べてみると、在日朝鮮人と日本人が共同で執筆したことがわかる。この文化欄は、主に在日朝鮮人の演劇などの文化活動を紹介したり、北朝鮮政権を宣伝したりする内容となっていた。