GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 



SOME FACTS ABOUT KOREA 



THE foreign commerce of Korea 

 amounts to about fifteen millions 

 of dollars, of which two-thirds are ex- 

 ports. It is difficult to learn how much 

 the United States sends Korea, as much 

 of what we send goes by way of China 

 and Japan and is not directly credited to 

 us. In 1903 the value of American ex- 

 ports to Korea, of which there is record, 

 amounted to about $400,000, but it is 

 probable that our actual exports to the 

 country reached double that amount. 



The trade of Korea with Japan is 

 growing more rapidly than with any 

 other country , the importation of cotton 

 goods from Japan amounting to from 

 two to three million yen annually (one 

 yen equals 50 cents) . Cotton goods are 

 the largest single article in the value of 

 importations into Korea, amounting to 

 between six and seven million yen an- 

 nually. Silk goods amount to about one 

 and a half million yen per annum. The 

 chief articles of export are rice, /\%. mil- 

 lion yen in value; beans, 2 million yen; 

 hides, 650,000 yen; and ginseng, 527, 000 

 yen. 



The currency chiefly consists of cop- 

 per cash and nickel coins, gold and silver 

 coins being out of circulation. The 

 total currency is stated as aggregating 

 about $22,000,000, of which $6,000,000 

 is copper cash, $14,000,000 nickel, $1,- 

 550,000 Japanese coins, and $530,000 

 Korean silver dollars. 



The minerals of Korea are of consid- 

 erable value. Copper, iron, and coal 

 are reported as abundant, and gold and 

 silver mines are being successfully oper- 

 ated, an American company having 

 charge of and operating a gold mine at 



the treaty port of Wunsan under a con- 

 cession granted in 1895. Concessions 

 have also been granted to Russian, Ger- 

 man, Japanese, and French subjects. 



Railways, telegraphs, telephones, and 

 a postal system have been recently intro- 

 duced into Korea. A railway from the 

 seaport of Chemulpo to Seoul, the capi- 

 tal, a distance of 26 miles, was built by 

 American contractors, and has reduced 

 the time between the seaport and capital 

 from eight hours to one and three-quar- 

 ter hours. The Seoul Electric Com- 

 pany, organized chiefly by Americans 

 and with American capital, has built and 

 operated an electric railway near Seoul , 

 which is much used by the natives. 

 This electrical plant is said to be the 

 largest single electrical plant in Asia. 

 The machinery is imported from the 

 United States, and the consulting engi- 

 neer, a Japanese, is a graduate of the 

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 



Transportation in the interior ischiefly 

 carried on by porters, pack horses, and 

 oxen , though small river steamers owned 

 by Japanese run on such of the streams 

 as are of sufficient size to justify the use 

 of steamers. The postal system is under 

 French direction and has, in addition to 

 the central bureau at Seoul, 37 postal 

 stations in full operation and 326 substa- 

 tions for registered correspondence. 



The area of Korea is estimated at 

 82,000 square miles, or about equal to 

 that of the State of Kansas. The popu- 

 lation is variously estimated at from 

 eight to sixteen millions. The foreign 

 population consists of about 30,000 Jap- 

 anese, 5,000 Chinese, 300 Americans, 

 100 British, 100 French, 100 Russians, 

 50 Germans, and about 50 of various 

 other nationalities. 



