근현대 개성상인의 경제조직 시론 ―3대 상업제도와 3대 사업부문을 중심으로― = An Essay on the Economic Structure of Gaeseong region Merchants

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In the Korean history, no merchant family or a merchant organization which had been successful during the Joseon dynasty period continued to prosper under the colonial ruling. Activities of enterprisers who were successful in the Japanese occupation period seem to have never dated back to the era before 1876. Yet the Gaeseong region merchants, whom to be primarily examined in this article, continued to be successful in their businesses for over five hundred years, since the early half of the Joseon dynasty period and through the Japanese occupation period. As we all know, the Gaeseong region merchants were the representative group of merchants in the Joseon dynasty period. Yet there have been so little studies and researches done upon the changes they went through, either after the opening of the country, or during the Japanese occupation period. As a result, it is unknown to us what kind of merchant power they would have had under the colonial ruling. Analysis done by this essay indicates that although the Gaeseong region merchants have gone through many changes, they still rose successful during the occupation period. The reason for their success, even under colonial ruling, is explored in this article through three business areas and three economic devices. The former includes normal commercial activities, Jinseng farms[蔘圃] managements and landlord managements. The latter includes the Shibyeon(時邊) finance, the Chahin Dongsa(差人同事) practice, and the Sagae Songdo Bugi(四介松都簿記) register. What turned out to be exceptionally crucial for their success were the Jinseng farms, the Shibyeon finance and Chahin Dongsa practices. Other merchant groups which thrived in the Joseon dynasty period, such as the Capital area merchants or the Pyeongyang region merchants, did not have these elements at their disposal or failed to efficiently utilize them. And that was one of the reasons why the Gaeseong merchants were so successful under colonial ruling, while other merchant groups were not so lucky and actually withered during the occupation period. Jinseng farms managements has been a monopolized asset of the Gaeseong merchants since the 1820s. The Jinseng farms managed by the Gaeseong merchants achieved the capability to compete with other foreign entities with their products, and therefore were able to remain solidly successful even under colonial ruling. Since the 1920s, Gaeseong merchants continued to collect profits, which mounted to the average of 20 hundred thousand Korean won annually, through the Jinseng farms managements. The Shibyeon finance was actually a civilian financial organization, which was also only accessible to the top wealthy people, actually only about 150 people among the Gaeseong merchants. Under colonial ruling, the interest rate of this Shibyeon finance was higher than that of the banks. But loaning from this finance did not require security(presenting a mortgage was not necessary), the loaning process was extremely brief, participants got to become not only loanees but also loaners, and various mechanism were in place to prevent financial losses. So even under colonial ruling, the Shibyeon finance kept operating and continued to be accessed. Gaeseong merchants were able to resolve many of their financial problems by accessing Shibyeon. And the amount of money that moved in the early 1930s is presumed to have ranged from 30 hundred thousand to 80 hundred thousand Korean won. The Chahin Dongsa practice was a mechanism to train and raise Gaeseong regional merchants. In Gaeseong, teen boys generally got a job as unpaid errand boys in other people`s shops. They worked there for about 10 years without being paid, and acquired skills and techniques necessary to become a merchant. In the meantime, the shop owner would monitor and examine what kind of talent the boys possessed that would define their future as businessmen. Only few of those errand boys were selected by the owners and become Chahin figures, which was a term that referred to businessmen who initiated their own business with the investment of the shop owners they had been serving. Most of them lived in major cities throughout Korea, and tended to their own businesses. And very few of these Chahin figures succeeded as big time merchants. Number of these Chahin figures in the 1930s is estimated as roughly 2 thousand. The Gaeseong merchants used these three business areas and three economic devices to the best of their abilities, and as a result, emerged victoriously. The merchant power of the Gaeseong merchants in the 1930s are generally believed to have been one billion Korean won.

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