근대 한국에서의 황린(黃燐)성냥 퇴출 배경과 그 의미

Abstract

This study tried to elucidate the process in which matches containing material lethal to the body were introduced into Korea in the late 19th century and finally expelled. Early matches not only contained the dangerous material yellow phosphorus, but also had a high risk of misfire. Accordingly, yellow phosphorus was replaced with red phosphorus, and safety was able to improve by dispersing elements needed ignition. In line with these changes, regulations were prepared to ban the production and distribution of yellow phosphorus matches. In addition, with signing of the Berne Convention in 1906 and the establishment of the ILO in 1919, international cooperatio* Ph.D. student, Dept. of Korean History, Seoul National University n for kicking out yellow phosphorus was promoted. Early modern colonized Korea was able to join this trend through Japan. At first, Japan, which was one of the leading producers of yellow phosphorus matches at the time, was lukewarm in regulating yellow phosphorus matches. However, due to domestic issues of the severe yellow phosphorus poisoning and international pressure, Japan eventually accepted the ILO's recommendation to reconfirm conclusion of the Berne Convention in 1906. Thus, in 1922, the <Act on Prohibition of Manufacturing Yellow Phosphate Matches> was enforced, officially banning the manufacture and distribution of yellow phosphorus matches. In the case of Korea, after the opening of the port, yellow phosphorus matches were introduced and rapidly spread to the masses. In competition with safety matches, yellow phosphorus matches had usually been superior because of their convenience. Yellow phosphorus matches were also produced in Korea from the late 1910s, but yellow phosphorus matches soon disappeared from the market as the prohibition against yellow phosphorus matches became common in Europe and Japan in the 1920s. Thus, in modern Korea, resultantly yellow phosphorus poisoning in the workplace did not emerge as a serious social issue. This was not because of the colonial government's policy or the colonial labor movement, but because of a coincidental irony by a kind of constraining circumstance.