Directory_and_Chronicle_1904 — Page 672

116

COREA

The foreign trade of the country continues to exhibit steady growth. In spite of a bad harvest in 1901 the returns of foreign trade for 1902 were the highest on record since the opening of the country, with the one exception of the previous year.

The total foreign trade amounted to £2,745,346; imports, £1,382,351; exports of goods, £846,034; exports of gold, £516,964. The balance of trade was against Corea to the extent of only £10,356, whereas the average excess of imports over exports for the past five years was £107,309, exports being greater in 1900 alone. The average of the trade for the past five years was £2,370,075; so that 1902 had to its credit £378,271 more than the average.

The principal articles of import are cotton manufactures, and of export, rice, hides and bones, beans, and gold. There is a considerable paper making industry, which is entirely in the hands of the peasantry, its great drawback being lack of capital. The export of gold is yearly increasing, in 1897 amounting to £240,047, in 1899 £293,338, in 1900 £363,305, in 1901 £509,738, and in 1902, £516,961. There are several gold mines now being worked owned by British, American and German syndi cates. The Pritchard Morgan Concession is now developing the Gwendoline mine, and the Unsan district, over the whole of which this Company possesses mining rights, has been shown to con- tain silver, copper and coal deposits. The German concession is at Tangokae (Kim-song). In 1894, owing to a rebellion in the Southern provinces, application was made to China for assistance, and Chinese troops were sent to restore order. Japan also sent troops and invited China to co-operate in reforming the government of the country, but China declined, and war resulted, Japan driving the Chinese out of Corea and carrying the war into China itself.

The Corean standing army, which used to consist of about 5,000 men, badly armed, drilled, clothed and fed, is now stated to number 17,000 men. For a few years

the army was trained by a Russian colonel who was assisted by three commissioned and ten non-commissioned officers, but in 1898 their engagement came to an end.

Regarding the currency of Corea the British Consul-General in his report for 1902 said: The chief difficulty in the way of trade is the lamentable state of the Corean currency. During 1902 the nickel coin fell to a lower value than ever before, being at one time at no less than over 100 per cent. discount. No little embarrassment was caused to business in the year under review by the presence in Corea of large and ever- increasing quantities of counterfeit nickel coins. The condition of the monetary system of the country, with its lack of reserve of precious metal, and the reliance placed upon the nickel piece of small intrinsic value, is in itself regrettable enough; but when there is superadded an overwhelming amount of spurious coins, the evil is much intensified. During 1901 the number of counterfeit 5-sen pieces which made their appearance had already attracted much attention, but the bad money increased and multiplied, and in 1902 resolute measures were found necessary to combat the nefarious traffic. Eventually the Japanese Government issued, on November 7, 1902, an Imperial ordinance, which came into force on the 15th, with a view to deterring Japanese from making spurious coins or despatching such nickels of Japanese manufac- ture to Corea. The punishment to which offenders against the ordinance are liable is inprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or a fine of not more than 200 yen (£20 88. 4d.). This enactment gave the Japanese customs officers power to prevent the the counterfeit coins from being shipped abroad, and enabled the Corean customs authorities to institute proceedings against Japanese found guilty of importing nickles of this description. From January 22, 1902, when the first seizure of the year took place, up to the end of December, 3,573,138 pieces (coins and blanks), the total face value being £18,191, were confiscated by the Chemulpo customs officers. The largest quantity taken at one time was 739,000 pieces, face value £3,772, detected on August 19 on a Corean junk; the second largest haul was made on September 8 in a cargo boat, and consisted of 530,090 pieces, with a face value of £2,512. Considering the quantity of nickles seized, the whole amount imported must be enormous. It is, of course, impossible to say how much has found its way in undiscovered, but it is reckoned that that must be five or ten times as much as the amount actually taken. While the counterfeiters and the passers of the debased coin cannot be too severely censured, the Corean Government have paved the way for fraud by filling the country with a depre- ciated currency of insignificant value, as they have issued without stint permits enabl ing private persons to undertake the work of coining. Thorough reform of the national financial system is the only remedy, and the longer it is delayed the greater will be the plight of the people. It is said that the withdrawal of the nickles from cir- culation and the placing of the currency upon a secure basis is an end which one or two prominent Corean officials have in view. The growth of the foreign trade has