日本植民統治의 經濟的遺産에 關한 硏究 = A Study on the Economic Consequences of Japanese Colonial Control in Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

As a younger student of colonial history, I an deeply interested in the modern colonial history of Korean whose destiny depended upon the history of capitalism in Japan. Among the various types of colonies, the most interesting type of colony to the students of underdeveloped countries may be the colony that was founded upon feudal society by the western or eastern imperialism. The typical colonies of this are Korea, India, China, Indonesia, Indo-China, though China was half-colonial nation.
This type of colonies went through the three stages of development, as the western capitalism developed from commercial capitalism and industrial capitalism to imperialism. Of the three stages of the colonial development, the third stage of them is the subject of our study, not noly because it, as the nearest past of the colonial nations, is the causes of their proverty and misery, but because the study of it will illuminate the way of winning them.
Socialists and critical "bourgeois" economists of colonization alike agree on the following conclusion of the studies of colonization.
(1) Where the western or eastern capitalists were faced by established society with rich and ancient cultures, still precapitalist or in the embryonic state of capitalist development, they rapidly determined to extract the largest possible gains from the host countries, and to take their loot home. Thus they engaged in outright pounder or in plunder thinly veiled as trade, seizing and moving tremendous wealth from the places of their penetrations.
(2) For the unilateral transfers of wealth from the colonial countries to the imperial capitalists provide the prerequisites of capitalism in the precapitalist or in the embryonic state of capitalist development.
By breaking up the age-old patterns of the agricultural economy, and by forcing shifts to the production of exportable crops, Western capitalism destroyed the self-sufficiency of the rural society that formed the basis of precapitalist order in all countries of its penetration, and rapidly widened and deepened the scope of commodity circulation. By outright-in many countries, massive-seizure of peasant-occupied land for plantation purpose and other uses by foreign enterprise and by exposing their rural handicrafts to the widening competition of its industrial exports, it created a vast pool of pauperized labor. Enlarging thus the area of capitalist activities, it advanced the evolution of legal and property relation attuned to the needs of a market economy and established administrative institutions required for their enforcement. Only in order to expand and tighten the economic and political grip on the areas of its domination, it forced the diversion of some of their economic surplus to the improvement of their systems of communication, to the building of railroads, harbors, and highways, providing thereby as a by-product the facilities needed for profitable investment of capital.
(3) Accelerating with irresistable energy the maturing of some of the basic prerequisites for the development of a capitalist system, the intrusion of Western capitalism in the now underdeveloped countries blocked with equal force the ripening of other. The removal of a large share of the effected countries' previously accumulated and currently generated surplus could not but cause a serious setback to their primary accumulation of capital. Their being exposed to ruinous competition from abroad could not but smother their fledgling industry although the expansion of commodity circulation, the pauperization of large numbers of peasants and artisans, the contact with western technology, provided a powerful impetus to the development of capitalism, this development was forcibly shunted off its normal course, distorted and crippled to suit the purposes of Western imperialism.
Based on the above three general conclusions of the studies of colonial history, we can propose the following three questions. What importance had the colonial countries to the imperial as the market of goods and capital investment of the imperial? How much devoted the colonial countries to the imperial as suppliers of foods and raw materials to the imperial? What were the economic conditions on the part of the colonial countries that enabled the imperial powers to do the above.
This thesis aims to illuminate the basic characteristics of the relation between Korea and Japan in the colonial period and the legacies from the Japanese colonial control which now are the causes of the poverty and misery of Korea.
Ⅰ. Korea as a market of the goods and capital investment of Japanese capitalism
Korea as a market of Japanese capitalism went through two stages: Korea as a market of consumption goods of Japan and as a market of capital investment of her. The first stage begins roughly in 1876 and ends in 1929; the second begins in 1930 and ends in 1945. The demarkation of the stages is based on the importance of Korean market as the market of Japanese consumption goods or that of her production goods. The statistics of foreign trade of Korea show that in the constitution of imported goods from Japan the share of consumption goods always exceeds that of production goods over the whole period of her colonial control.
But capital import accompanies not only the import of capital goods, but also that of consumption goods. The constitution of imported goods from Japan does not matter here. The important criterion of the period demarkation lies on the role of each commodity by which the foreign trade was led.
The importance of Korea as a Japanese export market is appreciated by the proportion of the whole export of Japan which is destined to Korea. The statistics of foreign trade whow that the importance of Korea as a Japanese export market steadily increased from 6.1% in 1910-12 to 21.5% in 1934-36. After 1930 Korea was a largest foreign market of Japan. But the importance of Korea as a foreign market of Japan does not limit to the proportion of Japanese export of which Korea had taken. When we scrutnize the statistics of foreign trade, we find that the proportion of Japanese export of which Korea had taken increased or decreased according to the conditions of Japanese foreign trade, though the proportion of which Korea had taken increased steadily through the Japanese colonial control. The proportion increased in the year of depression and decreased in the year of boom. That is, Korea as the foreign market of Japan should sacrificed her own interest for sake of that of Japan.
Korea as a foreign market of Japanese consumption goods had taken an important role. The proportions of consumption goods of the imports which were taken from Japan were 66.3% in 1919, 58.7% in 1929, 52.7% in 1935 and 49.8% in 1939, of which the shares of the goods of secondary industry were 55.5%, 47.7%, 41.2%, 38.0% and 38.3% respectively. Of the consumption goods, tissues, clothing, yarn, sugar and manufactures thereof and wine were the main stocks. Each of tissues and manufactures thereof, clothing and accessarieis thereof, yarn and the like, which were imported to Korea, took 10%, 18.1%, and 7.4% of the whole exports of each commodity in 1934-36. The tissues and manufactures thereof took 30-40% of the whole imports from Japan in the same period.
Form the above, we can conclude that Korea was not only the largest foreign market of Japanese capitalism, but also the safety-value of it.
Returning to the capital import from Japan, the active import of it had begun in 1930. The year of 1930 was not only the turning point of the world capitalism, but also that of the Japanese. As the depression of 1929 which was begun in the weakest link of capitalism prevailed all over the world, there were large stocks of capital in capitalist country which sought the investment opportunity. The financial capital of Japan found it in Korea.
The capital imports of Korea from Japan began as early as 1882. But until 1930 the amount of them was not so great, and they themselves were small and medium-sized. The imports of large monpolistic capital were few but social over-head capital.
The statistics of capital imports from Japan proves that the capital which was invested in Korea by the Japanese amounted to 7,329 million yen in 1931. Because these statistics show only the volume of the Japanese investment in Korea, which consisted in original capital investment, reserve funds and valuation profit, they do not tell how much capital imported from Japan, but we can use them as indicators which reflect the capital imports from Japan. Moreover, when we compare the capital imports from Japan based on the capital investment by the Japanese, we should remind that, of the capital investment which was done until 1931, the Japanese capital made in Korea was great. The capital investment by the Japanese in Korea during the early period of their colonial control was made in the process of the "Primitive accumulation" in which capital was accumulated in the hand of capitalists by plunder, violence, deception, usury, etc. This gives positive proof of the fact that the active capital imports from Japan began after 1930.
Capital imports usually accompany the imports of capital goods. According to the foreign trade statistics, the proportion of capital goods of the whole imports increased from 31.3% in 1912, 34.6% in 1919, 33.6% in 1929 and 38.0% in 1935 to 43.9% in 1939. Especially the increase in machinery imports was very high: from 5.7% in 1912, 9.2% in 1919, 7.1% in 1929 and 8.8% in 1935 to 14.1% in 1939. The above statistics show that the increase of capital goods imports show comparatively rapid increase after 1935. This is not the whole story. In the early stage of the colonial control, the large capital goods importing countries were Western Europe and the United States. The capital goods imports from Japan were very little. If we consider this, we find that the capital goods tell that imports from Japan increased faster than the above statistics tell.
By 1931 the capital invested in Korea by the Japanese amounted to 2,128 million yen. It consisted of exchequer investment, investment by corporate bodies, floating capital and investment by noncorporate bodies. The capital investment of them amounted to 898, 434, 625 and 433 million yen, respectively. Of the investment of corporate bodies, the capital invested in manufacturing was 26.9% of it, and others were invested in land, commerce and banking. But in 1941 the investment of corporate bodies amounted to 3,941 million yen which is compared to the 434 million yen in 1931. Form the above statistics we can conclude that after 1930 the capital investments in Korea by the Japanese were conducive to the industrialization of Korea in spite of its distortion, while before 1930 they engaged in the exportation of the natural resources and accumulated wealth in Korea by means of plunder, violence, deception, usury, etc.
The contribution of Korea as a foreign market of Japanese investment can be appraised by the share taken by Korea of the whole foreign capital investment of Japan. But we are to appriase it with the proportion taken by Korea of the whole exports of capital goods of Japan. The method of the latter will help us to understand the colonial attributes of the capital imports from Japan.
The main stocks of capital goods imports from Japan were minerals and manufactures thereof, ores and metals, metal manufactures, and machinery.
The proportion of minerals and manufactures thereof of the whole export of the same commodity from Japan which is destined to Korea increased from 25.5% in 1922-24 to 42.3% in 1934-36, that of ores and metals from 10.7% to 28.5%, that of metal manufactures from 8.0% in 1916-18 to 30.5% in 1934-36, and that of machinery from 7.2% in 1916-18 to 26.4% in 1934-36.
The above statistics show that the share of capital goods imports of Korea from Japan exceeds on the average 30% of the whole capital goods exports of Japan during the later period of the colonial control of Korea.
This reflects that the economic structure of Japan was subordinate to the Western capitalist countries and imperial to Korea and other Far Eastern countries.
Ⅱ. Korea as a supplier of foods and raw materials of Japanese capitalism
From the early days of the modern trade Korea supplied foods, mineral products and gold-and-silver to Japan. Agricultural raw materials, e.g. various kind of hides and cotton, were important exportable commodities. But during the early period of the Japanese colonial control rice and beans and pulses were the main stocks of exportable commodities, while minerals gained the importance as exportable commodities in the later period of it.
Korea as a supplier of foods to Japan gives the worth of the name of Korea as a colony of Japan. Rice alone takes about 50% of the whole exports of Korea. And the rice which was exported to Japan occupied nearly 30% of the whole output of her. The export of beans and pulses occupied 30% of the whole output of her.
The contribution of Korea as a supplier of foods to Japan is appraised by the following. The rice export from Korea to Japan takes 67.9% in 1931-39 and 67.6% in 1934-36 of the shortage of that of Japan. That of beans and pulse takes 30-35% of the shortage of that of Japan on the average over the years of 1910-36.
Korea as a supplier of the raw materials to the Japanese industry had also an important role. Comparing with Japan, minerals produced in Korea were abundant not only in their kind but also in their deposits. The proportion of the mineral export to its output of Korea reached to 10-15% before 1920, but after 1920 it reached to 30-35%. The contribution of the mineral export to Japan was 5-10% of the whole imports of Japan.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 植民地와 植民母國
• Ⅱ. 日本金融獨占資本의 商品 및 資本投下市場으로서의 朝鮮
• Ⅲ. 日本金融獨占資本의 食糧 및 原料供給地로서의 朝鮮
• Ⅳ. 依存經濟體制