일문지『朝鮮時報』의 <商況>란에 대한 고찰 - 1910년대의 거래품목을 중심으로 -

Abstract

This study seeks to show how Korea-Japan trade situations regarding business conditions in Busan in 1910s. Primary data used in the paper is the business section <Sang-hwang, 商況> of the 『Chosun-sibo, 朝鮮時報』. For that purpose, this paper identifies trade items and export routes of grains and seafood via Busan Port based on reports from the 「Busan-hoichak-japgok, 釜山廻着雜穀」, the 「Busan-suchul-ilbo, 釜山輸出日報」, the 「Gokmul-suchul-ilbo, 穀物輸出日報」, and the 「Ip-ha-pum, 入荷品」. The key conclusions are summarized as follows: First, Korean rice and grains were top export items at Busan Port, which served as a trading hub of sending Japan the rice and other grains from all over the peninsula. Consequently, business network comprising rice mills, traders, and transporters enjoyed considerable profits but was mostly taken up by the Japanese, leaving Koreans with limited lines of business. Secondly, seafood processing was focused on agar production and fish oil sledge in the 1910s. Agar production was a national project led by the Japanese Government General of Korea and a labor-intensive business combining Japanese capital and Korean labor. Fish oil sledge was one of the main items in the bilateral trade at the time. Thirdly, demand for salt kept increasing as the haul of fish continued to rise. Salt industry in Busan, however, was still at an early stage, so a large proportion of unprocessed salt came from China to Japanese processed salt manufacturers located in Young-do and Go-gwan in Busan. Lastly, the Japanese colonial government encouraged to grow and process sugar beet within the Korean territory using Korean labor in order to solve the supply-demand imbalance of sugar triggered by the war, as sugar demand in Japan rose continuously. As stated above, rice mills, traders, and shipping agents, including Choson Shipping Company(朝鮮郵船會社), enjoyed significant profits from maritime transport business after establishing regular sea routes connecting Korea, Japan, and Russia. But the business networks were mostly taken up by the Japanese, confining Koreans to low paid labor work in farms and factories. This paper suggests that business situation surrounding Busan in 1910s forced Koreans to be subordinate to Japanese capital and people living in the peninsula.