Korea in November 1945 was beset by rampant inflation, which the Koreans editors of newly liberated Keijo Nippo blamed on ‘Korean traitors’ and departing Japanese who liquidated their property and spent cash ‘indulging in lavish eating and wastefulness’

In my recent trip to Seoul, I visited the National Library of Korea and took many photos of pages from the Keijo Nippo newspaper, which was originally established as the official propaganda mouthpiece for the Imperial Japanese colonial regime, which ruled Korea from 1905 to 1945. Around November 1, 1945, a transformative change occurred: the newspaper was taken over by pro-independence Korean employees, shifting its editorial stance drastically and turning it into a platform for Korean liberation.

One of my interesting finds was this editorial article from November 5, 1945, written by Korean writers describing the rampant inflation that was occurring in Korea at the time under U.S. military occupation, newly liberated from Imperial Japanese colonial rule. The Korean editors appeared to blame the inflation squarely on departing Japanese residents who were liquidating their property into cash and lavishly spending it before returning to Japan, and also certain ethnic Koreans who were helping the Japanese residents by buying their property from them. It seems that, like in post-war Japan, there was a sort of euphoric atmosphere in post-war Korea for certain affluent people who had the means to party and have fun, anxious to forget the suffering and privations of war.

The Korean anger and resentment against the colonial regime and the Japanese people are very palpable in the article, as well as the writers' hostility against 'ethnic Korean traitors', or pro-Japanese Koreans who are described as only interested in personal profit as they shift their allegiance from the Japanese to the Americans. We can also see the reverence that the writers held for the 'sacred U.S. military'.

We can also see the Koreanized Japanese that the writers use, writing '日人' instead of '日本人' for Japanese, and writing '親美' instead of '親米' for pro-American, but they don't seem to be consistent with this shift, since both forms are used in the article.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) November 5, 1945

The Villains Behind the Inflation

The Japanese Must Leave

The Removal of Ethnic Korean Traitors Pretending to be Pro-American is Also an Urgent Priority

During the era of Japanese Imperialism when corrupt governance was the norm, our 30 million compatriots were exploited through coercive collections and transactions by the Governor-General's Office and other institutions, leading to economic controls and fixed pricing systems. These measures were said to be abolished after October 20th of this year. When the U.S. Military Government issued General Directive No. 2, it encouraged trade and production, aiming for a free market economy in Korea to decrease commodity prices, and it put its efforts into bringing previously sidelined goods back into the marketplace. As evidence of the Korean people's own trust in the U.S. Military Government, it was stated the previous day by the U.S. Military Government that bank deposits and postal savings had increased by several million yen, and that various commodity prices were expected to fall below standard levels. This directive had been definitively worded to rely on the laws of supply and demand, as was well-known among those in the economic sphere. However, when we actually observe the subsequent state of Korea's economy, we see that commodity prices continue to rise day by day. With the harsh winter looming, the public sentiment is enveloped in anxiety, and the future direction of the country is uncertain. What is the cause of this?

Eighty percent of Korea's assets were owned by Japanese people, and it was not just in the form of real estate, but also cash holdings. Furthermore, as Japanese people, they were allowed to freely buy and sell their private property, adding 'icing on the cake,' so to speak. In collusion with ethnic Korean traitors, they made an internal agreement to deposit only a portion of the proceeds into Korean banks, following the directives of the malicious government, while the majority of the funds were set aside to be received separately. That is how, while they cannot freely withdraw cash from the bank (no more than 1000 yen can be withdrawn at a time), they can still indulge in lavish eating and wastefulness while in Korea. This is the final malevolence of people leading the country to ruin. Furthermore, because they purchase goods at high prices, they end up possessing only about 20% [of their original assets]. As Korean compatriots, how can we fight against this? The economic impact is significant on lower-level laborers as well as the general public who live month-to-month maintaining households on monthly salaries.

There are only two solutions. One is to expel the Japanese from our country as soon as possible, and the other is to remove the ethnic Koreans traitors who collude with them. These ethnic Korean traitors (pro-Japanese individuals) aim to cheaply acquire or manage property owned by the Japanese. They put on the facade of being pro-American, and with advanced techniques previously used to curry favor with the Japanese, they try to deceive the sacred U.S. military, which came to save us, in order to gain personal profit. If the U.S. military thinks that these traitors are the leaders of Korea, we believe that they will repeat a grave mistake. We heard that the U.S. Military Government has set up an investigative committee regarding the selling of property, so we hope that the Military Government will thoroughly investigate these ethnic Korean traitors and be fully prepared for the establishment of a new Korea.

Who Is to Blame for Price Inflation?

Wipe Out the Destructive Mentality

Know the Righteousness of Building the Korean Nation

Why has the price of a bundle of green onions skyrocketed from one yen to three? It's not just green onions. The same thing is happening to sugar and daikon radish. As rampant inflation is threatening our daily life, we should definitely denounce the ones responsible for this malicious inflation. Who can deny that the majority of Japanese, who are limited to carrying cash when going back to Japan, are the main culprits? When considering that they can take lots of cash with them when they go back to Japan, it is no wonder why, these days, the Japanese can continue to lead prosperous lives without any discomfort as long as they have cash.

Take a look at the markets in the city. Is it not true that the ones hoarding the most essential food items and goods are exclusively Japanese women? We hear of outrageous stories like green onions, which were said to be too expensive at one yen a bundle, jumping to three yen a bundle before you knew it, and sugar now selling at 60 yen a kilogram. When you tell a vegetable seller that "Three yen for a bundle of green onions is too expensive," they reply, "You must be joking. Japanese people will buy it no matter how expensive it is."

Those immoral merchants who take advantage of the Japanese people's psychology to inflate prices must also be expelled, but whatever happens to the economic order of Korea in the future, these destructive scoundrels who are indifferent to how they threaten the lives of the Korean people must be removed as soon as possible. For 40 years, they squeezed as much blood from the Korean people as they could, and now they are returning to the ruins of their homeland while wiping their tears in defeat, but these are the underhanded means by which they leave economic chaos behind in Korea. Particularly in the southern part of the city and near the areas where Japanese residents live, due to the economic chaos caused by the Japanese, prices are increasing day-by-day. Thus, we must be determined to quickly implement the complete removal of the malicious residents who do not know the "Righteousness of Building the Korean Nation".

[Transcription]

京城日報 1945年11月5日

インフレを造る悪党

日人は退去せよ

にせ親美の民族反逆者除去も急先務

悪政が継続された日本帝国主義時代に総督府或いは総ゆる機関に対し強制的に供出、売買をさせ我等三千万同胞の血を吸い出し手足金しばりにした謂商業統制令と公定価格制度を今年十月二十日以後から廃止すると、軍政庁で総指令第二号を布告すると同時に我等朝鮮の経済界を自由市場へと指導する立場にて売買を奨励、生産を増加させ物価を低下させると同時に各自が死蔵した物品を市場へ送るべく総力を注いでいるから、朝鮮民族自体も軍政庁を信頼する証拠として銀行預金と郵便貯金が数百万円と増加して各種の物価が水準以下に低落するものと軍政庁では前日に言明して曰く、此の法令は経済界者達が周知している如く需要と供給の法則に依る決定的に言明されたが、以後の朝鮮の経済界を一観する時、それと反比例に日々物価は上がる一方で厳冬を前に控えて民心は不安に包まれ、その行方を知らずに居るのである。其の原因は何に起因するか。

朝鮮の八割の財産が日本人の所有であったから、その財産は不動産のみではない。勿論、それに正比例して現金も偏在してあった。その外に日本人としては、錦上に花を添える形で私有財産を自由に売買することを許されたのを寄貨として、朝鮮の民族反逆者と共謀して、その代価の一部分を朝鮮銀行に（悪政庁の命令にて）預金することを内約し、大部分は現今を別途に受け取って置き、思うがままに現金を銀行から引き出さられぬから（千円以上不能）朝鮮に居る間に好く食うてくい散らかす亡国人の最後の発悪を致し、かつてに高価にて物を買い入れるから二割程度しか持たない。我等朝鮮同胞は此れにどうして対抗出来るであろうか。尚さら下層労働者と月給にて月々の世帯を持つ大衆に及ぼす経済的影響は大きなものであるのである。

その解決方針としては二つしかない。その一つはすべからく日本人をして一日も早く我が国より追い出すことであり、もう一つは日本人と共謀する民族反逆者を除去することである。この民族反逆者（親日輩）達は日本人の財産を手安く自分の手に入るべく又は管理すべく親米家の仮面をかぶって過去に日本人におべっかを使った高等技術にて我等を救うために来た神聖なる米軍を瞞して私利を獲得しようとする者をまず先に除去すると同時に、米軍も彼輩達を朝鮮の指導者と思っては大きな過失をくり返すものと思われるが、軍政庁でも財産売買に関する審査委員会が設置されたと聞いているから民族反逆者達を徹底的に調査して朝鮮の建国の為に万全を期することを願うところである。

物価騰貴の罪は誰？

一掃せよ亡国根性

建国朝鮮の大義を知れ

一束一円の葱が一躍三円に値あげられた理由は一体どこにあるのか？葱ばかりでない。砂糖にしても大根にしてもそうだ。昨今の如く漬物価の暴騰がわれわれの生活の全面を脅かす時、悪性インフレーの造作輩の跋扈は断じて排撃すべきものである。現金持参（帰国のとき）を限定されを日本人の大多数がこの悪党輩の張本人であることを誰が否認しようか。帰国は出来ても多額の現金は止められている実状に照して彼等日本人このごろの生活は現金のある限り何等不自由なく裕かな生活をつづけている訳だ。

市内の各市場をのぞいて見よ。主要食糧をはじめ諸物貨の買い漁りは日本人婦女子に限られてはいないか。一円でも高過ぎるといった葱一束が何時の間に三円となり、砂糖一斤六十円というベラボウな話。野菜屋をのかぞいて『葱一束三円はあまり高いじゃないか』といえば『ご冗談でしょう。日本人はいくら高くても買ってくれますよ』。

いくら高くても買う日本人の心理を衝いて物価をベラボウに上げる悪徳商人も断じて駆逐すべきであるが、朝鮮の経済秩序が今後どうなろうが、朝鮮民族の生活が如何に威脅されようが構わぬという亡国的根性をもつ悪党を早く駆逐すべきである。四十年の長き間、朝鮮人の膏血を絞るだけ絞って今敗戦の涙をぐんで廃墟の里へ帰らんとする日本人の朝鮮に残す経済攪乱の卑劣な手段は即ちこれだ。殊に市内南部その外日本人居留部落の近くにある市場等の諸物価はこれら日本人の経済攪乱によって...日に日に沸騰する覚悟で建国朝鮮の大義を知らない悪性居留民の完全撤退が速に実施されなければならない。

Western firms including Shell, Mobil, HSBC, Otis Elevator, Singer were active in colonial Korea, a US firm had a corn starch factory in Pyongyang, until the regime confiscated their assets with the outbreak of war, accused of having a 'Jewish spirit' which 'exploits the entire wealth of mankind'

This is an article from December 1942, and it particularly stands out for its especially antisemitic, anti-American, and anti-British messaging. It is part of a series of articles written to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Pacific War against the United States, which began with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th local time (December 8th Japan time) in 1941. Setting aside the hateful content, this article provides a unique insight into the British and American corporations that were actively operating in Korea before they were confiscated by Imperial Japanese authorities about two months after the outbreak of war.

The article lists 15 British and American corporations actively operating in colonial Korea, including what were apparently joint ventures operating under the names of local companies, like Sakuma Industries, Pyonggang Industries, Unchang Industries, and a U.S. joint venture, Corn Product Refining Company, that apparently ran a corn starch factory in Pyongyang. Shell and Mobil had gas stations throughout Korea. Singer Corporation sold sewing machines to the Korean public under layaway plans. Other surprising appearances include HSBC, Otis Elevators, North British Mercantile Insurance Company, and Commercial Union Insurance Company.

Unlike colonies run by Western countries, Imperial Japan allowed Western companies to come and operate inside Korea from the very beginning, when Korea was annexed in 1910. Western missionaries set up hospitals and schools, and mining operations were started by Western companies. However, leading up to 1941, restrictions against Westerners were gradually escalated. In April 1940, Westerners were no longer allowed to buy land in major cities and within 4 kilometers of railroads. In July 28, 1941, regulations for the control of foreign nations, aimed at U.S. and Philippines residents, were passed, and even stricter regulations were passed after the outbreak of war.

I was able to figure out many of the company names and the above background information thanks to an excellent 2011 Japanese-language academic paper (PDF) entitled "The Management and Disposal of the Westerner's Property in Colonial Korea during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Pacific War and the Korean Liberation Period, 1937-1948", written by Ahn Jong-cheol (안종철, 安鍾哲).

However, further offline research will be needed to clarify some issues about this list. What company was "Compronpial"? My speculation is, maybe they misread the faded text saying "Compton" as "Complon", and the actual name of the company started with "Compton". There is no online historical information about many of the listed companies, including "Compton", Uo-oto pharmaceuticals, and the local companies, so the historical trail will have to be picked up offline in libraries.

(Translation)

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) December 5, 1942

Roots stretched throughout all of Korea

The epitomy of loan sharks,

Totally reborn into a new wing of the war effort

Shut out the United States and Britain!

One year since [the start of the Pacific War on December 8th]

Production Edition

Of our country's total production, the amount of production that the Korean peninsula assumes as a military base of operations is [redacted] billion yen, or about 10% of our country's total production. The clutches of the enemy's capital extended even into this great peninsula's output. Before the war, the amount of the enemy's capital reached a total of [redacted], turning the Korean peninsula into a bastion of American and British capitalism's aggression and exploitation of Greater East Asia by casting an insidious web of financial power.

As soon as the Greater East Asia War broke out, at 10:00 a.m. on December 9 of last year, the Ministry of Finance issued regulations (asset freezes) for the control of foreign nationals. The Ministry of Finance issued a notice to the American and British nationals that all general permission orders would be forfeited. Even in Korea, the Enemy Assets Control Law was immediately enforced on December 12 of that year to actively control assets belonging to the enemy and quasi-enemy nationals. On February 7, the Enemy Assets Control Law was implemented for trading companies, especially commercial corporations belonging to the production sector. Here, the Japanese government confiscated enemy assets, which now play a role in the war aims of the new Japan that prospers as it fights. Active efforts have begun to use the confiscated enemy assets to supply the war effort. The following are some of the major confiscated enemy assets:

Firstly, the U.S. and British oil companies including Standard Vacuum Oil Company (U.S.), Rising Sun Petroleum (U.K.), The Texas Company (China) Limited (U.S.), followed by Singer Corporation (U.S.), Compronpial (U.S.), and Nippon National (U.S.). Japanese grain companies and others include Uo-oto Pharmaceutical Company (U.S.), North British Mercantile Insurance Company (U.K.), Tōyō Otis Elevator (U.S.), Shinkō Cotton (U.K.), Hongkong and Shanghai Bank (U.K.), Commercial Union Insurance Company (U.K.), Sakuma Industries (U.S.), Pyonggang Industries (U.K.), and Unchang Industries (U.K.). The capitalization of these 15 companies amounted to over [redacted] million yen.

The three oil companies alone had invested 450,000,000 yen. They built an oil depot in Busan and expanded their sales channels to all corners of the Korean peninsula, making a strong inroad into Korea's economic world and focusing on invasion and exploitation. They attracted attention by using the symbol of a heavenly horse or a shell-shaped mark on street corners. Gasoline stations and signage were also outlandishly set up in the streets.

Those dens of U.S. and British aggression are still fresh in our memories, but in the first year of the Holy War, the people's determination to destroy the U.S. and Britain, their sworn enemies, successfully swept away the Americans and the British, and the stronghold of aggression that they had built over the past hundred years was replaced by the blade of justice that was aimed at their throats. The taxis, trucks, and buses that sped through the streets have now been replaced by fuel-efficient vehicles, and the triumphant songs of scientific Japan are now played in high spirits. Out of mischief, gas stations previously painted with bright red and yellow paint were reduced to signboards calling for the defeat of the U.S. and Britain.

Yoshikuni Nakatani was newly appointed to become president of the U.S.-affiliated Japan Grain Company, which boasts a vast site and modern facilities on the banks of the Taedong River in Pyongyang with a capital investment of 780 million yen. He has been making strenuous efforts to increase food production for Japan, which is now fighting a new battle every day. In April 1930, the U.S.-affiliated company began manufacturing starch from Korean corn, with an annual production of [redacted] hundred-thousand tons. In the meantime, he paid 200,000 a year to the U.S. government for the use of a U.S. patent, and also manufactured high-grade oil and chemicals as by-products. The company expanded its sales channels not only within Korea and mainland Japan, but also in the Chinese mainland. They were literally enjoying the beautiful juice of exploitation, and they had cast and unleashed their plutocratic financial web. They have always exploited under the guise of "equal opportunity" and the welfare of mankind. It is the Jewish spirit to spread surplus money all over the world and exploit the entire wealth of mankind in all corners of the world. The Greater East Asia War is also a war to drive this Jewish spirit out of the land and skies over Greater East Asia.

Their ingenious and extremely vicious dollar policies ate up nations and insatiably sucked the blood and fat of the world's humanity. The death struggles between Germany and the Soviet Union, the defeat of France, and the downfall of the Netherlands and other small countries were all the results of their schemes. We can all be taken in by their ingenious schemes before we even know it. A good example is the monthly installment sales of Singer sewing machines.

When we think about the fact that most of the people to whom they sold these machines were meager monthly wage earners, and that most of them were using their meager paychecks to support their greed, we still become infuriated at the insatiable inhumanity of it all. The monthly installment system is a vicious business scheme designed by the U.S. to squeeze every last penny out of the world's poor.

One year after the war began, the world's loan sharks, the U.S. and Britain, have been completely defeated, and even here on the Korean peninsula, the triumphal song of victory over the U.S. and Britain has been loudly proclaimed. All enemy facilities have now become activated as important parts of Japan's war efforts, rehabilitated as the driving force for the grand creation of Greater East Asia. The peoples of the Philippines, East Indies, Malaysia were previously deprived of their lands and had their nations destroyed, but they are now growing rapidly under the warm military rule of the Imperial Japanese forces.

The world's loan sharks have been using all kinds of tactics to continue inflicting suffering. They want beds, clothes, hats, and even shoes to be paid for by monthly installments. It is more difficult to provide healthy lives to the people under such a system than it is for a great person to be born from perfectly ordinary parents. Moreover, their usual modus operandi is to hone in on people who are in difficult situations, beat up each and every member of the human race, and then seize their land after first wreaking havoc on the national characters of their nations. [Photo: An abandoned gas station]

Source: https://www.archive.org/details/kjnp-1942-12-05

(Transcription)

京城日報　1942年12月5日

全鮮に張る根城

高利貸根性の標本

戦力一翼へ、全く新生

米英締め出し

あれから一年

生産篇

我国総生産高のうち兵站基地の名において半島に負荷さるるもの〇〇億、即ち約一割に当っている。この偉大なる半島生産高の中にも敵性資本の魔手は伸び、戦前におけるその額実に〇〇に達し、米英資本主義は半島にも不逞な金権の網を張って大東亜の侵略と搾取の根城をなしていたのである。

大東亜戦争勃発するや昨年十二月九日午前十時を期して、わが大蔵省は外国人関係取締規則（資産凍結）を発動。米英人に対し一般許可令はことごとく失却する旨通告を発した。朝鮮でも直ちに敵産管理法を同十二日施行して敵国及び準敵国人に属する財産の積極的取締に当ると同時に二月七日取り敢えず、商事会社、特に生産部面に属する営利法人に対する敵産管理を断行。ここにおいて敵国財産は日本政府に接収され今や、戦いながら肥える新日本の戦争目的に一役買って戦力補給に活発な活動を開始している。その主なものを拾って見ると。

第一に米英系石油会社、スタンダード（米）、ライジングサン（英）、テキサス（米）、シンガーミシン（米）、コンプロンピアル（米）、日本ナショナル（米）。日本穀産会社等を初め魚乙品製薬会社（米）、ノースブリテッシュ・マーキャンタルインシュランスカンパニー（英）、東洋オーチス・エレベータ（米）、振興綿花（英）、香港上海銀行（英）、コンマーシャル・ユニオン・アッシュランスカンパニー（英）、作久間工業（米）、平康工業（英）、雲昌工業（英）の十五社。その資本金は実に〇〇〇〇万円に及んでいる。

石油会社である三社だけでも四百五十万円の資本を投じて分坪、釜山に油槽所を置き、全鮮の隅々までも販路をひろめ、半島経済界に根強く喰い入って侵略と搾取に専念していたのである。街角などで天馬や貝標のマークを付けて我が物顔に人目を引いていた。ガソリン・スタンドや横文字もぎょうぎょうしく店舗を構えていた。

これ等米英侵略の巣窟は今なお我々の記憶に新しいが、聖戦一年宿敵米英撃滅に蹶起した国民の感情は米英色を見事に一掃し、彼等が百年に亘って営々築きあげた侵略の牙城は逆に彼等の咽喉を狙う正義の刃と変ったのである。巷を疾走するタクシーもトラック、バスも此の頃は代燃車に置き替えられ、科学日本の凱歌を高らかに奏でている。そして赤黄のペンキも鮮やかに塗られたガソリンスタンドはいたずらに敗戦米英の表看板にまで落ちぶれ果てたのである。

また七百八十万円の資本金で平壌大同江畔に広大な敷地と近代的設備を誇った米系日本穀産会社も新しく中谷芳邦が社長に就任。日も新たに戦う日本の食糧増産に懸命の努力を注いでいる。昭和五年四月、米系資本によって鮮産玉蜀黍を原料に澱粉製造に乗り出し、年産〇〇万をあげていた。その中、米国の特許使用料として年二十万を米国政府に支払い、高級油、薬品等を副産物として製造。鮮内はもとより内地、支那大陸に販路を拡張。文字通り搾取の美汁に酔いしれていたのであるが、彼等はこの金権網の目張りを門戸開放。機会均等と称し、常に人類の福祉ということをお題目として搾取して来た。あり余った金を世界中にばら撒いて西に東に南に北に人類のあらゆる幸を搾略しようというユダヤ根性であり、大東亜戦争はこのユダヤ根性を大東亜の天地から叩き出すための戦争でもある。

彼等の巧妙悪辣を極めるドル政策は大きくは国を食い潰し、小さくは世界人類の膏血を吸って飽くことを知らなかった。独、ソの死闘、フランスの敗退、和蘭その他小国の亡国その悉くがこの彼等の策謀の所産である。そして又我々が知らず知らずの中に彼等の巧妙なる策謀に乗ぜられていたことを思って見ると、いい例がシンガーミシンの月賦販売である。

売りつける相手はしがない月給取り、その大部分が乏しい俸給袋をはたいて彼等の貪欲に奉仕していたことを考える時、今更の如く飽くなき非道に憤激するのである。月賦制度なるものは米国が世界の細民から金のありったけを搾り上げようと企んだ悪辣極まる商法である。

開戦一年、世界の高利貸米、英は完全に敗北して、ここ半島にも米英色一掃の勝利の凱歌は高らかに揚げられている。すべての敵性施設は今は重要なる日本の戦力として活動し、偉大なる大東亜創造の推進力として更生しているのである。皇軍の温かい軍政下にすくすくと伸びつつある比律賓、東印度、馬来等の民衆は土地を奪われ、国を亡ぼされた。

その上にあの手、この術で悉く苦悩を続けて来たのである。寝台が月賦、洋服が月賦、帽子も月賦なら靴までが月賦である。そんな生活の中から健全なる国民生活を生み出そうということは鳶が鷹を生ませるよりもなお難しい。しかもこの難しい所に彼等が目をつけ、人類の一人一人を叩いておいて、先ずその国の国民性を滅茶苦茶に混乱させた挙句、国土を奪取するのが常套手段なのである。【写真＝廃業されたガソリンスタンド】