중일전쟁 시기 원산화교의 동향과 화교경제

Abstract

This paper is to study the shift of overseas Chinese of Wonsan at the era of Sino-Japanese War and their economic situation that has not dealt with in the existing history of overseas Chinese yet. First of all this paper examines the process of the participation in pro-Japanese government by Consulate of Joseon and the situations of overseas Chinese in Wonsan. They were apparently changed into people of pro-Japanese government from ones of people of enemy country since Chinese Consulate in Joseon had publically declared his support and engagement of Provisional Government of the Republic of China as a pro-Japanese government after the outbreak of the war. In sequence, this paper checks the effect that the policy of price control and distribution control that were carried out by the Japanese Government General of Korea had on the commerce of overseas Chinese in Wonsan. There were the features after the outbreak of war as follows: Firstly, the main stream of the overseas Chinese under vice Consulate of Wonsan including Wonsanbu still consisted of dealers in cotton goods, and the fabric wholesale dealers went out of business and cotton stuff retailers only remained after the wartime. Then the retailers of cotton goods didn’t get the profits by their free trade but got the distribution fee that was established according to the policy of price control and distribution control. Secondly, the exporters made trade of seafoods and medical stuffs that were producted in Joseon by way of Manchuria, and they sold them again in Hong Kong and East Asia as well as around all over China, which declined by the policy of export control of goods. Thirdly, the iron foundry of Wonsan had the characteristics of both manufacturing and sale, so that the managers of the business, with cotton dealers, constituted the mainstay of Chinese chamber of commerce, experiencing great difficulties that resulted from the distribution control of raw materials of iron. Besides the control of price and distribution, the law of business readjustment was regularly enforced since the early of 1944. Accordingly the restaurants of overseas Chinese and food shops in Wonsan were merged. As a result both the merchants and workers deeply experienced the unemployment problem. Though the home remittance of the measure to rescue the family of overseas Chinese was raised, it was too inadequate to recover their economic situation and lives.