330 



KOEEA. 



been completed; and Wonsen, in the northeast, 

 on Brough ton's Bay. Since 1880 foreigners, mostly 

 nontrading, have lived in Seoul. Two new ports 

 were opened in 1895 Mokpo, in the southwest 

 of Chulla province, halfway between Shanghai 

 and Nagasaki, a growing place with a good 

 harbor, and Chinampo, on the northern shore of 

 the Ping- Yang inlet. Since May 1, 1899, 4 new 

 ports have been opened Kunsan, on the west 

 coast, south of Chemulpo; Masampo, on the south- 

 east, near Fusan; Sungchin, on the east coast; 

 and the city of Ping-Yang, in the north, as a 

 trade mart. Of 20 lots of land sold at Kunsan 

 in April, 1900, 17 were purchased by Japanese 

 and 3 by Chinese. The Masampo concession con- 

 sists of 83 acres of level land, 300 acres of hill 

 land, and 25 acres of foreshore. The plot acquired 

 by Russia at Chupok-po, near Masampo, measures 

 83 acres. 



There are about 20,000 Japanese in Korea, of 

 whom 4.2.~>S live at Chemulpo, 1,979 in Seoul, 381 

 in Chinampo, 140 in Ping- Yang. Most of them 

 live in families, the number of women being about 

 two thirds as great as of the men. A majority 

 live at Fusan. While Korean subjects in China 

 have full treaty rights with the most favored 

 nation, in Korea the Chinese can not do stationary 

 trade outside the treaty ports. 



The number of Chinese in Seoul and Chemulpo 

 is 1,500 in each place, and in the other ports the 

 total is 500. Almost the whole of the import 

 trade of Korea is in the hands of Chinese, who, 

 since the war of 1894-'95, when they lost their 

 commercial ascendency, have regained it by their 

 superior commercial morality, absence of specula- 

 tive enterprise, firmness in combination, persever- 

 ance, and frugality. 



Foreign Trade. Although the gold export in 

 1899 was 557,567 yen, yet general trade declined 

 to the extent of 13 per cent., in comparison with 

 the figures of the previous year, or more than 

 2,627,568 yen. The chief factor affecting both ex- 

 port and import trade is rice, the value of the 

 export of which in 1899 was 688,805 yen less than 

 in 1898, in spite of the good crop of 1899. Japan 

 is Korea's only consumer of rice. At Chemulpo 

 the Koreans have formed a Chamber of Commerce 

 to protect themselves against Japanese and Chi- 

 nese. Japan's ascendency is limited to yarns and 

 cotton fabrics. In 1898 the Japanese imports 

 reached a total of 3,389,000, and her exports 

 279,000,000 yen, while the Chinese imports reached 

 a total of 4,396,000 and the exports 1,097,000 yen. 

 In exports the trade for 1899, compared with 1898, 

 declined to the extent of 711,640 yen on account 

 of the decrease in value of the ginseng exported. 

 The crop of 1899, a Government monopoly, yielded 

 1,030,000 yen. The chief imports were English and 

 Japanese shirtings, lawns, muslins, and piece 

 goods, the former worth 80,000 and the latter 

 190,000,000 yen, besides metals, grass cloths, millet, 

 railway plant machinery, and building material. 

 Japanese yarn showed an increase of 470,000 yen, 

 American petroleum 150,000 yen, and mining sup- 

 plies 170,000 yen. While the Chinese control the 

 import trade, the Japanese control the export 

 trade, the Japanese apparently knowing how to 

 deal with the Koreans better than the Chinese, 

 and, with their manufacturing centers so close at 

 hand, excelling the Knglish in most of the textile 

 articles, and especially in the importation of yarn, 

 which rose in 1899 to 1,468,300 yen, as compared 

 with 997,490 yen in 1898, nearly 50 per cent., while 

 English yarn fell from 89,790 to 74.960 yen in 

 the same years, the Japanese yarn being so much 

 lower in price. The imports of cotton goods for 

 1899 form more than half the total imports of the 



country. The imports that are growing in favor 

 with Koreans are candles, window glass, and sew- 

 ing machines. In shipping, foreign trade shows 

 an excess of 502 steamers and an increased tonnage 

 of 159,129 tons in 1899, compared with the previous 

 year. Of 1,666 steamers, with an aggregate ton- 

 nage of 746,020 tons, 1,159 steamers and 002, -I'l 7 

 tons were Japanese, 4 vessels, of 3,341 tons, were 

 German, 61 vessels, with 51,863 tons, were Russian, 

 and the remainder Korean. The German vessels 

 were under charter to the Japanese. 



Mining and Foreign Interests. The mineral 

 wealth is apparently the greatest among Korea's 

 possibilities. Gold is exported duty free, hence 

 the known figures of export of this metal, 278,825 

 yen in 1900, are far below the reality. The Brit- 

 ish syndicate controls the Unsan gold mines, which 

 employ about 500 men, mostly natives. The Amer- 

 ican gold mines are near Wonsen. The gold- 

 bearing strata, similar in their nature to the \Vit- 

 watersrand in South Africa, are in a secondary 

 deposit extending to a great distance. At the 

 Wonsen mine, near Ping- Yang, 20 American 

 crushing mills are in operation, with more on their 

 way. Mr. Leighunt, the concessionaire, employs 



1 physician, 20 foreigners, 11 Japanese, and 400 

 Koreans. The Korean Government receives one 

 fourth of the net profits. At Taion, in the same 

 district, an American concessionaire employs 23 

 foreigners, 8 Japanese, and 600 Koreans. In April, 

 1900, a survey of the interests of foreigners in 

 Korea shows that the Japanese own the Seoul- 

 Chemulpo Railway and the concession to build, 

 work, and control the Seoul-Fusan Railway, and 

 to exploit 4 gold mines in 4 different provinces 

 and a smokeless coal mine, and have other mining 

 concessions. The whale fisheries on the eastern 

 coast, the establishment of branches of 3 of their 

 national banks, and the control of 16 secular and 



2 religious schools are also theirs. The Japanese 

 Government has the management and control of 

 all the posts and telegraphs in the empire. Russia 

 has secured a coal mine and whaling privileges, 

 the same as the Japanese, but with permission to 

 erect boiling stations on shore, besides timber-fell- 

 ing rights along the Y^alu and Tumen rivers and 

 on Ulnyung island, in order to obtain lumber for 

 use on the Trans-Asian Railway, with certain 

 rights as to schools. The Americans, besides their 

 gold mines and electric railway in Seoul, have 

 12 missionary schools in Seoul. The Germans 

 control a gold mine at Tanghyon, employing sev- 

 eral hundred men. The English, besides their gold 

 mines and various contract works, have a branch 

 bank, and the customs and finance of the country 

 are under the control of J. McLeavy Brown. 

 Korea has been a member of the International 

 Postal Union since Jan. 1, 1900. and the few for- 

 eign officials employed are mostly French. 



Finances. The* average income of a Korean 

 family is $2.50 a month. The income of the Gov- 

 ernment for 1900 was 6.162.796 yen. and the ex- 

 penditure 6,161.871 yen. The revenue is from Ihi- 

 customs, land tax, household tax. the sale of gin- 

 seng, licenses, and concessions, and, when properly 

 collected and paid into the treasury, is ample for 

 all purposes. Japanese newspapers say thai <f 

 24,000,000 yen borrowed from Russia.' :>.()( tO.Oiil) 

 have been paid. Korea has adopted the ^\ 1 

 standard, but coins as yet only nickel and copper 

 The Japanese currency is used in customs dutiis 

 and largely at the seaports, the only Korean coins 

 in circulation being the nickel ii-sen and coppi r 

 I -en pieces, besides cash or perforated coins of 

 iron and brass on strings. This cash weighs 7 

 pounds to the dollar'- \\orth. and suffers from 5 

 to 50 per cent, discount against the Japanese gold 



