Daiichi Bank and the Bank of Chōsen in Late Nineteenth
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Colonial Finance: Daiichi Bank and the Bank of Chōsen in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Korea, Japan, and Manchuria A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures by Howard Hae Kahm 2012 © Copyright by Howard Hae Kahm 2012 iii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Colonial Finance: Daiichi Bank and the Bank of Chōsen in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Korea, Japan, and Manchuria by Howard Hae Kahm Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles 2012 Professor John B. Duncan, Chair After Chosŏn Korea was forced to open its ports in 1876 by Japan, Korea was incorporated into a regional East Asian economy based on the unequal treaty system and predicated on a structure of core and periphery relationships between the industrialized and industrializing nations. As the first modern bank in Japan, Daiichi Bank was the first Japanese bank to establish operations in the Korean open ports. Daiichi was heavily dependent on its business in Korea for survival, but it ultimately thrived within the fierce competition of the time. Daiichi also demonstrated the inherent contradiction of functioning as the erstwhile Korean central bank as well as a private commercial bank. After annexation in 1910, Daiichi Bank transferred nearly all of its operations into the Bank of Chōsen. The internal Japanese debate over the establishment of a stand-alone central ii bank between the Bank of Japan, Ministry of Finance, and colonial government established the Bank of Chōsen with a separate-but-equal yen currency which placed colonial Korea on the periphery and insulated Japan from the Korean economy. Also, the Bank of Chōsen aggressively expanded into Manchuria to remedy the colonial contradictions of a perpetual trade imbalance, but it also reinforced a new core-periphery relationship between colonial Korea and the Manchuria. The post-WWI economic crash, the 1923 Kantō Earthquake, and the 1927 Shōwa Financial Crisis presented new challenges for the Bank of Chōsen which was forced to rely on a government-sponsored rescue. After 1945, the Bank of Chōsen continued to play a pivotal role in the southern economy under American occupation authority. Despite the internal power struggle between the Bank of Chōsen and the Ministry of Finance over the creation and independence of the South Korean central bank, the prominence and authority of the Bank of Chōsen ensured continuity in the institution and personnel in the new Bank of Korea. The histories of Daiichi Bank, the Bank of Chōsen, and the Bank of Korea thus demonstrate the continuity and contingent adaptations of these institutions with the demands of the state as they traversed late nineteenth and early twentieth century Korea, Japan, and Manchuria. iii The dissertation of Howard Hae Kahm is approved. R. Bin Wong Namhee Lee John B. Duncan, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2012 iv This dissertation is dedicated to Paul H. Kahm v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Charts and Tables…………………………………………………………………... vii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………… ix Vita…………………………………………………………………………………………. xi Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………………………………….. 1 Chapter 2: Daiichi Bank in Late Nineteenth Century Korea………………………………. 26 Chapter 3: The Bank of Chōsen in Colonial Korea………………………………………... 74 Chapter 4: The Bank of Chōsen in Manchuria…………………………………………….. 147 Chapter 5: Post-Liberation Bank Policy During the American Occupation……………….. 220 Chapter 6: Conclusion………………………………………………………………………253 Appendix I. List of Chinese Characters…………………………………………………... 264 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….. 273 vi LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Table 1. Fifteen Largest Shareholders of Daiichi kokuritsu ginkō, 1872-1876…………. 28 Table 2. Korean Gold Purchased by Daiichi Bank, 1900-1907…………………………. 42 Table 3. 18th Bank Documentary Bill Transactions with 102nd Bank Branches, 1879-1894……………………………………………………………………….. 55 Table 4. Amount of Daiichi Banknotes Issued by Year, 1902-1909……………………. 69 Table 5. Establishment Dates of Bank of Chōsen Branches and Offices in Korea, Japan, Manchuria, and China…………………………………………………… 90-91 Table 6. Amount of Bank of Chōsen Banknotes in Circulation, 1909-1917……………. 95 Table 7. Deposits in the Bank of Chōsen by Half-Year Increments, 1909-1917………. 99 Table 8. Accumulation of Reserve Funds for Losses and Dividends…………………… 100 Table 9. Gold Purchases by the Bank of Chōsen, 1910-1917…………………………... 101 Table 10. Amount of Total Gold Exports Handled by the Bank of Chōsen, 1910-1917.. 102 Table 11. Earthquake Bills Held by the Bank of Chōsen in October 1926……………... 131 Table 12. Non-Performing Loans of the Bank of Chōsen by Business Region in 1924... 134 Table 13. Revenues and Expenditures of the South Manchurian Railway……………… 167 Table 14. Total Deposits, Advances, and Note Issue of Bank of Chōsen from 1909 to 1919……………………………………………………………….. 179-180 Table 15. Deposits in the Bank of Chōsen by Region of Origin, 1910-1917…………… 180 Table 16. Deposits of Manchurian Branches of the Bank of Chōsen, 1909-1919……….181 Table 17. Relative Percentages of Deposit Categories for Manchurian Branches of the Bank of Chōsen, 1909-1919……………………………………………… 182 vii Table 18. Soybean Product Exports from Manchuria, 1907-1917……………………… 183 Table 19. Bank of Chōsen Financing of the Main Import and Export Items of Manchuria, 1912-1919………………………………………………………... 184 Table 20. Advances Made by the Manchurian Branches of the Bank of Chōsen, 1909-1919……………………………………………………………………….. 186 Table 21. Relative Percentages of Types of Advances Made by Manchurian Branches of the Bank of Chōsen, 1909-1919…………………………………………………….. 187 Map 1. Bank of Chōsen Branches in Manchuria, 1919…………………………………. 196 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Professor John B. Duncan, for his patience and instruction throughout my graduate career. I am thankful to Professors Namhee Lee, R. Bin Wong, and Fred Notehelfer for their guidance and willingness to serve on my dissertation committee. I appreciate the assistance of Yonsei University Professors Kim Do-hyung, Hong Sŏng-ch’an, Woo Dae Hyung, and the late Pang Kie-chung, during my Fulbright research year as well as starting me on the path of Korean Studies. I would also like to thank Professor Shanti Singham of Williams College for her encouragement to pursue graduate studies in history. I am deeply grateful for my fellow UCLA graduate students who enabled both the production of this dissertation and the completion of my graduate studies through their friendship and encouragement. I would like to thank the members of the dissertation writing groups who read and commented on chapters, including Hijoo Son, Aimee Kwon, Hyung-Wook Kim, Sonja Kim, Paul Nam, Janet Lee, Hanmee Na, Youme Kim, Sinwoo Lee, and Elli Kim. I would also like to thank the participants of the 2008 UCLA-Harvard Graduate Student Workshop, the 2007 First International Graduate Students Conference at Korea University, and the 2006 UCLA- Yonsei Graduate Student Workshop for their comments and observations. Needless to say, any errors in this dissertation are solely my own. This dissertation was generously supported by the Korea Foundation, the Fulbright Program, and the Institute for Korean Studies at Yonsei University. The UCLA Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, the Center for Korean Studies, and the Graduate Division at UCLA provided financial support during my years as a graduate student. I benefited from the guidance of Toshie Marra of the UCLA East Asian Library and the generous assistance offered by the library staffs at Yonsei University, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo University, and Meiji ix University enabled me to gather necessary archival materials. I would also like to acknowledge the staff of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures for their generous assistance throughout my graduate career. I would like to thank my family for their unswerving support and love. My mother has always encouraged and supported me in my graduate studies and everything I do. I would like to thank my brother and his family for being an unending source of joy and encouragement, despite the numerous time zones between us. Finally, I would like to thank my wife Kristen for her unflagging sense of humor, wisdom, and love. This dissertation would not have been possible without her. x VITA 1997 B.A., History and Asian Studies Williams College Williamstown, Massachusetts 1997-1998 Fulbright U.S. Student Fellowship Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea 2000-2002 Dean’s Del Amo Fellowship University of California, Los Angeles 2002-2003 Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship University of California, Los Angeles 2005 M.A., Asian Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles 2006-2007 Lecturer, Department of History Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, California 2008-2009 Fulbright-Hays Dissertation Fellowship Institute for Korean Studies, Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea 2010 Lecturer, Department of History University of California, San Diego San Diego, California 2011-2012 Korea Foundation Graduate Studies Fellowship University of California, Los Angeles xi Chapter 1: Introduction “Our country is located off in one corner of the seas and has not had relations with foreign countries. Thus Our people have had little opportunity to observe the world and have maintained their own principles for the past 500 years. In recent