Ever since 1971 – around 52 years ago – The Islander has been a tool for Korean and international members of our school to report and voice their opinion on the world that has surrounded them throughout the years: from the school being Cheju National College in Seogwipo to become Jeju National University and moving the campus to Ara-dong; from fighting for the April 3rd Incident to being properly recognized by the government, to the fight towards democracy in South Korea; from the international community in the school made up by Peace Corps volunteers to having hundreds of international students from multiple countries. These and more changes have been recorded throughout the 345 issues in changing formats.

From 1971 to 1995, The Islander was a bimonthly newspaper publication with multiple pages – reports about Park Chung-hee’s dictatorship, as well as about the Gwangju Uprising highlight the political character of the newspaper at the time. Yet, it is also possible to read how JNU was shaping up to be what it is now, as several accounts of the construction of buildings, opening of new schools and departments, and admission of professors highlight the expansion of the school. Student collaboration came in the form of columns about Jeju lifestyle and mythology, as well as poems; starting from the 90s cartoons were also part of the issue.

From 1996 to 2011, The Islander changed its format to become a bimonthly magazine, which received an increased participation from the student community, as well as from professors. These magazines are filled with articles that cover international topics – which would indicate the period when JNU started becoming more global – book and movie recommendations, and coverage on events happening in the university and in Jeju.

Finally, from 2012 up until now, The Islander became what it is now: a monthly newspaper issue that combines the best elements of the previous formats in order to both present a formal report on issues happening in campus and around the world, to opinion pieces from both international and Korean students.

This past April, the JNU Museum reached out to The Islander staff in order to compile every issue available in our offices and archive them. While it is still unclear whether or not the Museum would make these publications accessible to the public, preserving these assets would be necessary to perpetuate the history of our university. Unfortunately, not every issue is available, and due to the storage conditions of many of them, they have tears and unreadable segments.

The Islander staff sincerely hopes that the history we have described so far will be available to any person that wants to access it. More than a tool for uniting our community, the newspaper reflects the history of Jeju, South Korea, and of the world that has surrounded every writer that published in our pages.