조선은행 중역 인사의 실태와 중역진 구성의 특징

The Bank of Chosen–The Status of Personnel Affairs Concerning Executive Officers and Their Lineup

This study reviewed the personnel affairs of executive officers of the Bank of Chosen during the Japanese Colonial Period in Korea and divides this time into three periods. During the first period (right after its establishment), those from the Cheil Bank were appointed to important positions in the Bank of Chosen in order to ensure the continuity and stability of operations. Ex-officials of the Japanese Ministry of Finance were also appointed in connection with the need to protect Japan’s national interests. In the mid-1910s and thereafter, personnel reshuffles were carried out at the Bank of Chosen for the purpose of expanding the sphere of activities outside of Korea, including Manchuria. During the second period, a reshuffling of personnel was carried out. Those responsible for the Bank of Chosen’s operational failure were frequently expelled and those with little relevance to the Bank of Chosen were appointed to important positions. During the third period, efforts were made to reorganize the bank, which had many problems. Steps were taken to re-stabilize the organization under the leadership of the president of the Bank of Chosen. Ex-officials of the Japanese Ministry of Finance were appointed to important positions. In the mid-1930s and thereafter, outsiders filled the positions of the bank’s president and vice president with a focus on the need to smooth execution of orders and control. The positions of the bank’s directors were filled with those who had served within the bank in connection with the need to carry out the policies of the home government. The most noticeable feature of the composition of the bank’s executive officers is that more than half of them were taken from outside and were mainly ex-bureaucrats (mostly from the Japanese Ministry of Finance) and ex-officers of special banks. Looking at them by rank, the presidents and vice presidents were dominantly outsiders, while many directors were those who had served within the bank. With the passing of time, the share of those who had served within the bank grew higher, due to a need for experts who were well versed in working-level operation. This contrasted with the Chosen Shiksan Bank, whose core positions were filled with ex-officials of the Japanese Governor General’s Office in Korea. Such a status was closely connected to the key members of the two banks. The Governor General’s Office could not exert much influence on the Bank of Chosen, as it was dominated by Japan’s Ministry of Finance.