``Tendency`` has lexical meanings such as the inclination, the trend, the current, etc. and also critical meanings as an aesthetic, literary term. The tendency as a technical term was commonly used in the form of ``tendentious`` or ``tendentiousness``. The word ``tendency`` appeared first in Kim Chai-kwan`s article(1922) and the term ``tendency art`` was seen first in Im Chung-jai`s critical essay titled "A piece of writing given to the men of letters" (1923). ``New trend group`` was a word ingeniously combining the meaning as a literary current and the meaning as socialistic tendentiousness. In my opinion, the former meaning was stronger than the latter. Kim Pal-bong and Im Wha were representative theorists who eonfirmed the fact that the term and the contents of ``new trend group`` originated with Pak Young-hi. But, afterwards Kim Pal-bong maintained that he was the originator. Im Wha raised the status of ``the new trend group`` while Pak Young-hi interpreted ``the new trend group`` as the preliminary period literature. Kim Pal-bong was behind Pak in the degree of understanding of tendentiousness. Kim Nam-chon discriminated ``the new trend group literature`` from the tendency literature. Im Wha was in the same position as Kim Nam-chon, but he could not define the area of tendency literature. In case that ``the new trend group literature`` were understood as the preliminary stage, this title would be unnecessary. Instead, the expression like the first period of tendency literature would be more proper. In case that the range of tendency literature were strictly cut down, the tendency literature could be placed either in front of or behind proletariat literature.