37th Anniversary Essay A Heart That Refuses to Let Go, Even as Roots Become Exposed

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

Its trunk is cracked like a tortoise shell, and thick roots protrude from the soil, spreading in all directions along the slope. Behind it, ancient stones are stacked layer upon layer. The roots grip the hillside, while branches lean toward the fortress wall.

Exposed roots mean the tree has lost the soil that wrapped around them. Yet the tree has not fallen. Instead, it grips the remaining soil even more firmly, as if refusing to ever let go.

This pine tree stands beside the 'West Ichchi' of Suwon Hwaseong's western fortress wall. It is one of the bastions built when the fortress was constructed in 1796. A bastion is a structure made by projecting part of a fortress wall outward to observe and defend against enemies approaching closely. It allowed those to remain within the city walls while stepping forward to see places that would otherwise remain hidden from view.

It is precisely where News S stands.

Observing Suwon from within Suwon. We see the alleys that would not be visible from a distant vantage point, meet the people of Suwon behind the documents on our desks, and breathe sight and inquiry into things that would otherwise be passed over if no one asked.

News S was founded on September 30, 1989. Today marks thirty-seven years.

During this time, News S has recorded mostly the affairs of Suwon. From Paldalmun Gate and Suwon Station, the General Sports Complex and Big Bird, traditional markets and government offices, bustling streets and the daily lives of ordinary Suwon residents. There were uncommon national incidents, and there were common occurrences that would have been mere sentences elsewhere.

The everyday life of Suwon's people is the history of Suwon itself.

For some, a single bus route changes the course of their day, and a single crosswalk in front of a school determines a child's safety. When an old neighborhood shop closes, it is more than an economic issue for a family—it is a matter of livelihood. A single administrative decision may become the conclusion of a long-awaited hope for some Suwon resident. News S has been by their side.

In the meantime, the appearance of the soil that has covered News S's roots has changed many times.

When print newspapers moved to the internet, News S did not remain confined to its existing methods. In 2001, it was the first local media to open a citizen reporter program, and in 2005, it received the first internet newspaper registration number in Gyeonggi Province, Gyeonggi 00001. In 2008, it was the first in the Gyeonggi-Incheon region to send articles to portals, and in 2014, it was the first among national local daily newspapers to declare a digital-first policy.

Walking first did not always lead to a bed of flowers.

Readers began encountering articles on portals, where a headline was read before the name of the media outlet. Fewer Suwon residents held print newspapers in their hands, and the place of News S on mobile phones was not guaranteed. Walking ahead sometimes meant the soil covering roots disappearing sooner than for others.

Now, once again, the ground is shifting.

Artificial intelligence analyzes vast amounts of information and produces fully formed articles in an instant. Much of what was once the exclusive domain of people is no longer theirs alone. The notions of 'information only we know' and 'content that can only be created through our work,' which media organizations have long relied upon, are rapidly becoming obsolete.

News S will boldly move forward this time as well. Just as we crossed from print to the internet, we will step into this new era first and engage with it. Just as we always have.

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

Machines are not alive. They do not endure the cold air of dawn markets or stand in rain-soaked alleyways. They do not listen to the words of parents waiting for children in front of schools or ask citizens lingering outside government service centers what is troubling them. 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 cannot be seen from a distance. One must go directly and examine. Finding what data and screens cannot capture, asking, confirming, and sometimes correcting—this is precisely the work News S must not abandon.

News S cannot cover all the affairs of Suwon. Yet it can shoulder a portion of them. Recording whispered voices, asking those in power one more time, capturing the stories of grieving Suwon residents, and documenting what others have overlooked. This is the portion.

Rather than grandiose talk of changing the world, always maintaining this place where Suwon's people can return and lean on us when needed. This is the utility of News S. The conviction that Suwon's affairs must be recorded by News S. The belief that even small voices must be heard by someone. The determination that if an issue is unresolved today, we will ask again tomorrow.

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

A tree cannot pass through a year on pleasant seasons alone. It must pass through all seasons—the spring when new shoots emerge, the summer when branches grow, the autumn when leaves fall, and the harsh winter—for a single ring to remain.

In Suwon, with Suwon's people.

News S has not only experienced good seasons. There were times when soil beneath our feet was eroded and roots became exposed. Yet we have remained here. Seasons endured in this way accumulated ring by ring, becoming thirty-seven years.

We look again at the pine tree below the fortress wall. Its roots are fully exposed, yet it has not let go of the hillside. Its branches still extend beyond the fortress wall. Within its form lie the seasons spent here, accumulated as rings.

News S seeks to be the same. Even as the way people read newspapers changes and the tools for making articles transform, we refuse to let go of Suwon and its people. We will shoulder a portion of this city and grow our rings in a place where Suwon's people can return and lean on us in any season.

News S has taken root in Suwon, and the people of Suwon have held those roots firm. It is a heart that refuses to let go, even as roots become exposed.

Now the thirty-eighth ring begins.