Prior to the establishment of
Rimjinggang, ASIAPRESS began operations in 1998, conducting interviews with defectors.
Rimjingang secretly operates with secret journalists and reporters within
North Korea. The magazine aims to shed light on life inside the nation. The reporters, North Korean civilians and defectors who receive media training and recording equipment, are able to obtain things such as voice recordings, videos, and even official documents. One of the major reasons for the "divergence" was said to be that
Imjingang intended to be rather a communication tool for defectors and North Koreans while
Rimjingang aspires to be a project purely for journalistic activities and to foster journalists and journalism in North Korea. Since then, Choi Jin I has made
Imjingang a completely independent magazine, which is no longer connected with Asia Press.
Rimjingang, published in Japanese/English, in Japan and
Imjingang published in South Korea are no longer related. In 2010, the magazine published a video of a woman foraging for food in North Korea which received worldwide attention. Currently, the Japanese edition of the magazine is published periodically. In October 2010,
Rimjingang released its first English hardcover edition. The name
Rimjingang is also the North Korean name for the
Imjin River, which crosses the demilitarized zone and flows into South Korea from the North. One of the magazine's North Korean journalists chose this name to symbolize sending the thoughts of the North Korean people to their brothers and sisters in the South. ==Staff==