News & Joy

What News & Joy does

News & Joy (뉴스앤조이) is an independent, reader-supported Christian news organization headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, founded in August 2000 by four journalists in their 30s. The outlet functions as an internet newspaper covering Korean Protestant church affairs, broader society, and politics, and had accumulated 56,119 articles as of July 2025. It positions itself as editorially independent from church authority, serving progressive and civic-minded Christian audiences in Korea, and has received recognition including the Amnesty Korea Award and Korean Journalists Association awards.

The organization's products span multiple formats: a primary news website, News & Joy TV video content distributed via YouTube, a weekly newsletter published on Tuesdays, a member community, the Joy Store merchandise channel, the OZ Club economic study group, and online meditation classes. The website is maintained by external vendor NDSOFT; no mobile app, public API, or proprietary AI/ML capability is disclosed. Editorial leadership is structured around Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Kang Do-hyun, Editor-in-Chief Choi Seung-hyun, Ministry Planning Department Head Park Yo-sep, and Team Leader Lee Se-hyung, with Lee Yong-pil serving as CEO since March 11, 2024.

The business model is donor- and reader-supported nonprofit economics. Q4 2023 revenue of 158,248,217 KRW (~$120K USD) was composed of regular member sponsorship (~63%), one-time sponsorship (~19%), advertising (~6%), and other income (~12%, including book sales and Joy Store). The quarter posted a net loss of -21,305,726 KRW. The organization operates exclusively within South Korea with no disclosed geographic expansion, monetization relies on recurring reader commitments rather than advertising scale, and there is no evidence of venture funding, acquisition activity, or external investors.

Name

News & Joy

Legal name

뉴스앤조이

Website

https://newsnjoy.or.kr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Short description

News & Joy (뉴스앤조이) is a Seoul-based independent Korean Protestant online news outlet, founded in 2000, providing reader-supported journalism on church, society, and politics via website, weekly newsletter, video, and community products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Christian News Media

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (513120), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Community, Ethnic & Multilingual News Publishers (MPAJADAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)

Keywords

• Christian journalism
• Independent news media
• Investigative reporting
• Korean church reform
• Religious affairs reporting

Headquarters

HQ city

Seoul

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. 정기후원금 (Regular Sponsorship): 개인, 단체, 기업 등의 후원금으로 주요 재원. 2023년 4분기 기준 전체 사업 수익의 63%(99,178,500원)를 차지.
2. 일시후원금 (One-time Sponsorship): 교회의 후원금으로 일시적으로 수령하는 재원. 2023년 4분기 기준 전체 사업 수익의 19%(29,375,000원).
3. 광고수입 (Advertising): 사이트 배너 광고를 게재하고 받은 수입. 2023년 4분기 기준 전체 사업 수익의 6%(9,237,272원).
4. 기타사업수익 (Other Business Revenue): 도서 판매, 조이스토어 매출 등. 2023년 4분기 기준 전체 사업 수익의 12%(18,405,831원).

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

News & Joy is an independent Korean Christian internet newspaper that publishes investigative journalism and editorial content on Korean Protestant church institutions, social issues, and progressive Christian perspectives. The publication provides category-specific news services covering 교계 (church affairs), 교회 (churches), 사회 (society), 기획 (special features), 연재 (series), 칼럼 (columns), and 영상 (video content), alongside a weekly newsletter and reader community.

Product overview

뉴스앤조이는 2000년 8월 인터넷 신문으로 출발한 한국 개신교 전문 독립 언론으로, 온라인 뉴스 서비스와 영상 콘텐츠(Documentary), 회원 커뮤니티, 뉴스레터(주간 브리핑), 조이스토어(도서/상품 판매), 설문조사, 온라인 묵상 모임 등의 서비스로 구성된다. 교계·교회·사회·기획·칼럼·탐구생활·영상 등 카테고리별 기사 서비스를 핵심으로 하며, 유튜브 숏폼 콘텐츠도 병행 제공한다.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• News & Joy Online News Service An online Christian news publication providing investigative journalism and editorial content across categories including Korean church affairs, churches, society, special features, series, and columns. Targeted at Korean readers interested in independent reporting on church institutions, progressive Christianity, and social justice issues.
• News & Joy TV (Video Documentary Service)

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 인터넷신문윤리위원회minorOthersNews & Joy is a member of the Internet Newspaper Ethics Committee (인터넷신문윤리위원회). The outlet adheres to the committee's Internet Newspaper Ethics Code. The ethics charter was established in 2011 and most recently revised in November 2025.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Media Today (미디어오늘): Independent Korean online news outlet covering media, journalism, and society; partial overlap with News & Joy in investigative-style reporting and progressive-leaning audience.
• Religion News Service (RNS): Nonprofit religion-focused news wire covering religious and ethical issues across faith traditions; analogous to News & Joy as a mission-driven religion-news outlet, though operating at international scale.

Direct peers

• Pressian (프레시안): Independent progressive Korean online news outlet covering politics, religion, and society — overlapping audience and editorial positioning with News & Joy.
• Newstapa (뉴스타파): Korean nonprofit investigative-journalism outlet producing long-form documentary video on social and political issues; closely parallels News & Joy's investigative, mission-driven, donor-supported model.
• Catholic Peace Weekly / Catholic Review (가톨릭평론): Korean Catholic news magazine covering church and society from a reform-oriented perspective; analogous to News & Joy as a religious-media outlet focused on church reform and social justice.
• Christian Today Korea (크리스천투데이): Korea's largest mainstream Christian newspaper, also serving the Korean Christian community with online news, similar in mission to News & Joy but larger in scale and more ecumenical in coverage.
• Sojo (소주): Independent Korean Catholic news outlet covering social justice, church reform, and marginalized voices — directly comparable to News & Joy in mission, donor-supported model, and progressive editorial stance.

Broad incumbents

• The Hankyoreh (한겨레): Major Korean progressive daily newspaper; covers religion and church issues as part of a broader news portfolio, with similar ideological leanings but vastly larger scale and broader audience.
• Christianity Today (US): International Christian news magazine focused on church, culture, and reform — broadly comparable in editorial mission but operates at much larger scale across global English-speaking audiences.
• The Kyunghyang Shinmun (경향신문): One of Korea's major national dailies with progressive editorial positioning; overlaps with News & Joy's audience on social and religious-justice stories but serves a much broader general-interest readership.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLnF6sNSz4cxOwF4WP6CD8Leykw2-Jh0rO
• Xx.com/newsnjoy
• Facebookfacebook.com/newsnjoy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about News & Joy