1904~1909년 일본의 전력산업 침탈과 장악과정

The Seizure and Pillage of the Electric Industry by Japan in 1904~1909

This dissertation examines the takeover of the Korean-American Electric Company during the Greater Han Empire period by the private Japanese company, Japanese-Korean Gas Ltd. Taking advantage of the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese seized military control of the Korean peninsula and demanded the conclusion of agreements. Under the name of sijeong kaeseon [administrative reform], the Japanese established a colonial-style economic structure to bring Korea into conformity with its own needs. Japan seized control of the electric industry in which it had long been interested. Despite its ultimate objective of colonizing the Greater Han Empire, Japan still needed to maintain a friendly relationship with the United States and it could not resort to a forced takeover of the Korean-American Electric Company. In the meantime however, Japan began to subtly exert pressure on company management. Despite conflicts with Collbran, the Japanese managed to improve relations by 1908. The Japanese reined in a newspaper expressing anti-American sentiment and recognized Collbran’s long-denied development rights for the Kabsan mines. Using these actions as a foundation, the Japanese expanded their efforts to acquire control over the Korean-American Electric Company. The Japanese mobilized businessmen and zaibatsu figures that had tight connections to government officials, like Shibusawa Eiichi and okura Kihachiro, to establish Japanese-Korean Gas Ltd., a gas company. This company was intended to supply gas for heat and light and was the instrument by which the Korean-American Electric Company would be taken over. After the establishment of the Japanese-Korean Gas Ltd., the agreement for the takeover of the Korean-American Electric Company was concluded and for 1.2 million won, the Japanese-Korean Gas Ltd. assumed the privileges, rights, and assets of the Korean-American Electric Company, as well as 500,000 won in company debt. In June 1909, the formal contract was concluded and the Korean-American Electric Company was transferred to the Japanese-Korean Gas Ltd. In this manner, management control of the electric industry of the Greater Han Empire was transferred to Japanese hands. Consequently, the Japanese-Korean Gas Ltd. foreshadowed the changes to come in the new colonial economic structure.