1920~30년대 대구･함흥 지역의 전기 공영화 운동

Abstract

The aim of this study is to review the movement for public management of electric power in Daegu and Hamheung regions in the 1920s–1930s, focusing on the ownership of the movement. During the Japanese colonial era, Korean people raised complaints against private companies’ monopoly of electric power in major cities, which resulted in a movement for conversion into public management of electric power. The movement based on the publicness of electric power spread across different regions in Korea after the success of conversion into public management of electric power in Pyeongyang-bu in 1927. Thereafter, the movement spread to Busan and Daegu in 1929 and to Gyeongseong (Seoul) and Hamheung in 1931. The most significant factor in the progress of such a movement was the attitude of local councils. The movement evolved quite differently depending on the attitude of the respective local councils. As the local council of Daegu-bu exhibited a very passive attitude, focusing only on reduction in power rates, Daegu-bu failed to achieve practical progress for conversion into public management of electric power. In addition, as the movement was waged only in July 1929, conversion into public management of electric power in Daegu-bu practically turned out to be a failure. On the contrary, in Hamheung, associations organized at multiple civicrallies supported candidates who were contending for the local council elections for public management of electric power. As a result, those candidates held the majority in the local council of Hamheung, thereby leading to the local council’s active movement for conversion into public management of electric power and ultimately, the adoption of a bill for public management of electric power. Eventually, conversion into public management of electric power could not progress without the direct involvement of local councils or local authorities of “bu.” In the case of Daegu-bu, local residents’ demand for conversion into public management of electric power was not strong enough as compared to that of other local communities, which resulted in a weaker drive for the demand by the local council. In Hamheung, conversion into public management of electric power, which was demanded at civic rallies, was practically pushed by the local council, ultimately resulting in its substantial progress. This indicates that even though local councils at that time played a very limited role, it was the only public institution through which local residents could petition for their own interests.