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The Bank of Chōsen (, ''Joseon Eunhaeng''), known from 1909 to 1911 as the Bank of Korea ( ''Kankoku Ginkō'', ''Hanguk Eunhaeng'') and transcribed after 1945 as Bank of Joseon, was a colonial bank that served as
bank of issue A bank of issue, also referred to as a note-issuing bank or issuing authority, is a financial institution that issues banknotes. The short-lived Stockholms Banco (1657-1667) printed notes from 1661 onwards and is generally viewed as the first-ev ...
for
Korea under Japanese rule From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...
as well as being a
commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...
, with significant operations beyond Korea until 1945. Formed in 1909 by reorganization of the former Korean operations of Japan's
Dai-Ichi Bank The Dai-Ichi Bank (, ), known from its establishment in 1873 to 1896 as Dai-Ichi Kokuritsu Bank () was a major Japanese bank headquartered in Tokyo. Founded and developed for several decades by Shibusawa Eiichi, it expanded into Korea as ear ...
, it issued the
Korean yen The yen was the currency of Korea under Japanese rule, Korea, Empire of Japan between 1910 and 1945. It was equivalent to the Japanese yen and consisted of Japanese currency and banknotes issued specifically for Korea. The yen was subdivided i ...
from 1910 to 1945. Its seat was initially established in
Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
(known at the time as
Hanseong The region now corresponding to Seoul, South Korea has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age. It has been the capital of a number of kingdoms since it was established. Prehistoric It is believed that humans were living in the area that is n ...
, then
Keijō , or Gyeongseong (), was an administrative district of Korea under Japanese rule that corresponds to the present Seoul, the capital of South Korea. History When the Empire of Japan annexed the Korean Empire, it made Seoul the colonial capita ...
), relocated to
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
in May 1924, and subsequently relocated back to Keijō. It has been described as "a primary component of Japanese foreign expansionism". Following the
division of Korea The division of Korea began at the end of World War II on 2 September 1945, with the establishment of a Soviet occupation zone and a US occupation zone. These zones developed into separate governments, named the Democratic People's Republic of ...
in 1945, the Bank of Chōsen was succeeded in
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
by the Central Bank of the DPRK. In
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
, it continued its activity and issued the
South Korean won The South Korean won (symbol: ₩; code: KRW; ) is the official currency of South Korea. A single won is divided into 100 jeon, the monetary subunit. The jeon is no longer used for everyday transactions, and it appears only in foreign exchange ...
until 1950, when it was replaced by the
Bank of Korea The Bank of Korea (BOK; ) is the central bank of South Korea and issuer of South Korean won. It was established on 12 June 1950 in Seoul, South Korea. The bank's primary purpose is price stability. For that, the bank inflation targeting, targ ...
. Its branches in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
were liquidated in October 1945, with some of the assets forming the basis for the later establishment of Nippon Fudosan Bank in 1957.


Establishment

Following the
Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905, also known as the Eulsa Treaty, was made between delegates of the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire in 1905. Negotiations were concluded on November 17, 1905. The treaty deprived Korea of its diplomatic s ...
which reduced the
Korean Empire The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910. Dur ...
to a Japanese protectorate, the dominant status which Dai-Ichi Bank had enjoyed in Korea since 1878 became a matter of debate in Japan. In August 1907, Japan's Resident-General
Itō Hirobumi Kazoku, Prince , born , was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888, and later from 1892 to 1896, in 1898, and from 1900 to 1901. He was a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior state ...
and Dai-Ichi Bank's head
Shibusawa Eiichi was a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism", having introduced Western capitalism to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He introduced many economic reforms including use of double-entry accounting, ...
agreed that Dai-Ichi's operations should be eventually transferred to a dedicated central bank for the territory. A debate ensued between Itō and the Japanese finance ministry, with the latter favoring the creation of a Korean branch of the
Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The said bank is a corporate entity ...
over that of a stand-alone colonial institution over which Tokyo would have less direct control. Eventually Itō's position won the debate, and the finance ministry rationalized the decision as preferable to preserve financial stability. The new Bank of Korea was created by Japanese law of July 1909, largely modelled on the
Bank of Taiwan The Bank of Taiwan (BOT; ) is a commercial bank headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. It was established in 1897-1899 as a Japanese policy institution or "special bank", similarly as the Nippon Kangyo Bank (est. 1897), Hokkaido Takushoku Bank (est. ...
(est. 1898) but with a greater role for Itō in its governance than in the Taiwanese precedent. Dai-Ichi Bank kept its branches in Seoul and
Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
but later in 1909 transferred all its other Korean branches and offices to the Bank of Korea, totalling 220 regular employees and 121 support staff in
Chinnampo Nampo (North Korean official spelling: Nampho; ), also spelled Namp'o, is a major city in North Korea which is the country's fourth-largest by population. The city is an important seaport in the country as it lies on the northern shore of the T ...
,
Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...
,
Gunsan Gunsan (; ), also romanized as Kunsan, is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-t ...
,
Hamhung Hamhŭng (''Hamhŭng-si''; ) is North Korea's List of cities in North Korea, second-most populous city, the capital of South Hamgyong, South Hamgyŏng Province and the 16th largest city in the Korea, Korean Peninsula. Located in the southern part ...
,
Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...
,
Kaesong Kaesong (, ; ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region cl ...
, Kyongsong,
Masan Masan () is an administrative region of Changwon, a city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was formerly an independent city from 1949 until 30 June 2010, when it was absorbed to Changwon along with Jinhae District, Jinhae. Masan was ...
,
Mokpo Mokpo (; ) is the List of cities in South Korea, third largest and most densely populated city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, located at the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula, close to Yudal mountain. Mokpo has frequent high-speed ...
,
Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...
,
Songjin Kimch'aek (), formerly Sŏngjin (Chosŏn'gŭl: 성진, Hancha: 城津), is a city in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. It was an open port in 1899. It has a population of 207,699. Etymology The city received its current name in 1951 during ...
,
Wonsan Wonsan (), previously known as Wonsanjin (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwon Province (North Korea), Kangwon Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...
, and across the
Yalu River The Yalu River () or Amnok River () is a river on the border between China and North Korea. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between China and North Korea. Its valle ...
in
Andong Andong () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Korea, and the capital of North Gyeongsang Province. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of 167,821 as of October 2010. The Nakdong Ri ...
. The transfer also included central operations and the new building initially planned by Dai-Ichi Bank for itself in Seoul, then still under construction and which became the Bank of Korea's head office. The Bank of Korea assumed responsibility for the Dai-Ichi Bank's notes in circulation, which totalled 12,000,000 yen, and Dai-Ichi Bank would further transfer to the Bank of Korea the 4,000,000 yen in specie reserves which backed its banknotes. The balance was converted by the Bank of Korea to a loan of 20 years without interest to the Dai-Ichi Bank. The new institution's first president was , a former mayor of
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
who had joined Dai-Ichi Bank in 1906 to run its Korean network and kept the position until his death in October 1915.


Japanese colonial era

Following the
Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, also known as the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, was made by representatives of the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire on 22 August 1910. In this treaty, Japan formally annexed Korea following the J ...
and full annexation, the Bank of Korea was renamed the Bank of Chōsen by Japanese law in March 1911. The bank remained a
joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...
owned by a number of Japanese banks and companies, with a board appointed by the
Governor-General of Chōsen The Governor-General of Chōsen (; ) was the chief administrator of the : a part of an administrative organ established by the Imperial government of Japan. The position existed from 1910 to 1945. The governor-general of Chōsen was established ...
. Its monetary role was modelled on that of the Bank of Japan, with the key difference that it was allowed to use BOJ banknotes as currency reserve alongside gold and silver. It was responsible for issuing currency in Korea, regulated domestic prices, serviced international trade. Its banknotes had
legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that Standard of deferred payment, courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment in court for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything ...
status in Korea and also in the
Kwantung Leased Territory The Kwantung Leased Territory () was a Concessions in China, leased territory of the Empire of Japan in the Liaodong Peninsula from 1905 to 1945. Japan first acquired Kwantung from the Qing dynasty, Qing Empire in perpetuity in 1895 in the Tre ...
and the
South Manchuria Railway Zone The South Manchuria Railway Zone (; ) or SMR Zone, was the area of Japanese extraterritorial rights in northeast China, in connection with the operation of the South Manchurian Railway. History Following the Japanese victory in 1905 over I ...
; they could be exchanged one-to-one with those of the Bank of Japan. The total amount of the Bank of Chōsen's banknotes increased from 13.5 million yen at end-1909 to 20 million at end-1910 and 28.6 million in April 1912, then declined to 22.9 million by end-1914 and rose again to 34 million (end-1915), 47 million (end-1916) and 68 million (end-1917). This expansion reflected both economic growth in Korea and the bank's expansion into Northeast China and beyond. The bank opened branches and offices in
Mukden Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. It is the province's most populous city with a p ...
(July 1913),
Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...
(August 1913),
Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...
(September 1913), Siping (February 1914), Kaiyuan (September 1915),
Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...
(July 1916),
Yingkou Yingkou ( zh, s=, t=, p=Yíngkǒu) is a coastal prefecture-level city of central southern Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, on the northeastern shore of Liaodong Bay. It is the third-smallest city in Liaoning with a total area of , a ...
(September 1916), Fujiadian (December 1916), Longjingzun (March 1917),
Jilin ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_al ...
(June 1917),
Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...
(October 1917), Zhengjiatun (March 1918),
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
(April 1918),
Manzhouli Manzhouli ( zh, s=满洲里; ; ) is a sub-prefectural city located in Hulunbuir prefecture-level city, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. Located on the border with Russia, it is a major land port of entry. It has an area of and a populat ...
(September 1918), and
Qiqihar Qiqihar (also spelled Tsitsihar) is the second-largest city in the Heilongjiang province of China, in the west central part of the province. The built-up (or metro) area made up of Longsha, Tiefeng and Jianhua districts had 959,787 inhabitants, w ...
(November 1918). In June 1916, the Bank of Chōsen started lending directly to the Fengtian government. In December 1917, it took over Manchurian operations of the
Yokohama Specie Bank The was a Japanese bank founded in Yokohama in 1880, which dominated the Japanese market for trade finance in subsequent decades. It has been described as a "quasi-governmental exchange bank that was the overseas financial agent of the Japanese ...
, including its issuance privilege and branches in Lüshun,
Liaoyang Liaoyang ( zh, s=辽阳 , t=遼陽 , p=Liáoyáng) is a prefecture-level city of east-central Liaoning province, China, situated on the Taizi River. It is approximately one hour south of Shenyang, the provincial capital, by car. Liaoyang is hom ...
,
Tieling Tieling ( zh, t=鐵嶺 , s=铁岭 , p=Tiělǐng , l=iron peak) is one of 14 prefecture-level cities in Liaoning province of the People's Republic of China. Tieling is a city where coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extract ...
and Andong, while acting as a
fiscal agent A fiscal agent, fiscal sponsor, or financial agent is a proxy that manages fiscal matters on behalf of another party. A fiscal agent may assist in the redemption of bonds or coupons at maturity, disbursing dividends, and handling tax issues. For ...
for the Japanese government in the Kwantung Leased Territory. The YSB's banknotes were withdrawn and replaced with notes of the Bank of Chōsen which already circulated widely in Manchuria, while the YSB retained activity in the territory as a commercial bank. The Bank of Chōsen also expanded its gold purchasing operations into Manchuria, opening an assaying office at its branch in Changchun that complemented the ones it had inherited from Dai-Ichi Bank in Seoul, Pyongyang and Wonsan. The Bank of Chōsen thus became the dominant supplier of gold to Japan's mint in
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
, representing between 27 and 57 percent of its gold supply between 1910 and 1917. The branches in Manzhouli and Qiqihar were created in the context of the
Japanese intervention in Siberia The of 1918–1922 was a dispatch of Japanese military forces to the Russian Maritime Provinces, as part of a larger effort by western powers and Japan to support White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army during the Russian Civil ...
, during which the Bank of Chōsen also temporarily established offices in
Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...
,
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
, and other outposts occupied by the Japanese army; the Vladivostok branch remained in activity until 1931. By 1919, the bank had 18 branches in Manchuria, where its operations were more profitable than in Korea where it only had 10 branches. Following the Japanese financial downturn of 1920, however, the bank pared down its Manchurian lending and note issuance, leading to calls by Japanese businessmen in Manchuria for the establishment of a separate local bank of issue. In the
1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...
, the Bank of Chōsen's branch in Tokyo was destroyed by fire and the bank suffered heavy losses, following which the Japanese finance ministry and Bank of Japan supported it with large-scale long-term lending. In February 1924, new legislation deprived the
Governor-General of Chōsen The Governor-General of Chōsen (; ) was the chief administrator of the : a part of an administrative organ established by the Imperial government of Japan. The position existed from 1910 to 1945. The governor-general of Chōsen was established ...
of his prior role in the governance of the bank, which came under the sole supervision of the Ministry of Finance. In May 1924, the bank's head office and senior leadership relocated to Tokyo. The bank's structure was reorganized with a director in Seoul (Keijō) overseeing operations in Korea, another one in Dalian (Dairen) overseeing those in Manchuria, and the leadership in Tokyo overseeing all other foreign operations (e.g. in China) together with those in Mainland Japan. By 1929, the Bank of Chōsen had 19 offices outside of Japan and its colonies, the second-largest such network among all Japanese banks, surpassed only by the Yokohama Specie Bank. In Japan it had branches in Tokyo, Osaka,
Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...
, and
Shimonoseki file:141122 Shimonoseki City Hall Yamaguchi pref Japan01s3.jpg, 260px, Shimonoseki city hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 248,193 in 128,762 households and a pop ...
. In the mid-1930s, the Bank of Chōsen's notes still circulated widely in Manchuria, even after the creation of the Central Bank of Manchou in 1932. Eventually, the Bank of Chōsen created a 50-50
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
with the
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...
government, the , fully guaranteed by the government and which on took over all Manchurian branches of the Bank of Chōsen as well as those of the Manchurian Bank and Shoryu Bank, so sixty branches in total. While it retreated from direct activity in Manchuria, the Bank of Chōsen expanded into North China in May 1936 by establishing a central bank for the
East Hebei Autonomous Government The East Hebei Autonomous Government (),Japanese language, Japanese also known as the East Ji Autonomous Government and the East Hebei Autonomous Anti-Communist Government, was a short-lived late-1930s state in Northern and southern China, north ...
, known as the Chi Tung Bank. In 1937 as the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
started, the Bank of Chōsen became the financial agent of the invading Japanese Army and established offices in the major cities it captured (and superseding the Chi Tung Bank in East Hebei). As a consequence of the conscription of Japanese men, the share of Koreans in the Bank of Chōsen's workforce rose steadily, from 16 percent in 1928 to 22 percent in 1939, 33 percent (455 Korean staff) by March 1945, and 35 to 40 percent by the war's end in August 1945.


Postwar development and transition to the Bank of Korea

In the disruption associated with the
surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...
and
division of Korea The division of Korea began at the end of World War II on 2 September 1945, with the establishment of a Soviet occupation zone and a US occupation zone. These zones developed into separate governments, named the Democratic People's Republic of ...
in 1945, the Bank of Chōsen's eight branches north of the 38th parallel (in Pyongyang, Chinnampo,
Haeju Haeju () is a city located in South Hwanghae Province near Haeju Bay in North Korea. It is the administrative centre of South Hwanghae Province. As of 2008, the population of the city is estimated to be 273,300. At the beginning of the 20th centu ...
, Hamhung, Wonsan,
Sinuiju Sinŭiju (; ) is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong, Liaoning, China, across the international border of the Yalu River. It is the capital of North Pyongan Province, North P'yŏngan province. Part of the city is included in the Sinuiju Spe ...
, Rajin, and
Chongjin Chŏngjin (; ) is the capital of North Korea's North Hamgyong Province (함경북도) and the country's List of cities in North Korea, third-largest city. Sometimes called the City of Iron, it is located in the northeast of the country. History ...
) came under the control of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
and consequently of
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
. In December 1945, the Pyongyang branch created a temporary monetary office, known as the "calculation office". On , the central bank of North Korea was created with use of all eight branches, but remained under the control of the
Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...
. On , most other banks in the territory were merged into the central bank, which was taken over by the North Korean government's finance ministry from the Soviet forces. The central bank was renamed the
Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea The Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is North Korea's central bank. Established on December 6, 1947, it issues the North Korean won, North Korean won. The Bank is subordinated to the Cabinet of North Korea. Since 2023, th ...
on . In the South, by comparison, the Bank of Chōsen (now transcribed as Bank of Joseon) did not itself undergo significant change in the late 1940s. The U.S. Army Military Government used it to fund its operations, triggering inflation. The bank benefited from the arrival of qualified employees who took refuge from the harsh occupation in the North. A policy debate arose as to which existing institution would be best suited to become the monetary authority of the newly independent South Korean state, for which the Bank of Joseon competed with the Joseon Industrial Bank and
Chohung Bank Chohung Bank Co., Ltd. (CHB; , sometimes transcribed as Joheung Bank) was a bank company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was formed by the 1943 merger of Hanseong Bank (), established in 1897 and sometimes referred to as Korea's first ban ...
. Eventually, legislation promulgated on established the
Bank of Korea The Bank of Korea (BOK; ) is the central bank of South Korea and issuer of South Korean won. It was established on 12 June 1950 in Seoul, South Korea. The bank's primary purpose is price stability. For that, the bank inflation targeting, targ ...
and granted it the former assets and operations of the Bank of Joseon, the latter being placed into liquidation as a way to shield the new central bank from possible claims of Japanese stakeholders. The mainland Japanese assets and operations of the Bank of Chōsen were nationalized in 1945, and reorganized in 1957 as the Japanese Real Estate Bank or Nippon Fudosan Bank. It was renamed in 1977 as the , rescued in 1997 by the Japanese government, and privatized in 2001 as
Aozora Bank is a Japanese commercial bank that offers service in 19 branches in Japan and in 2 overseas representative offices (as of July 2012). Originally based on the Japanese operations of the Bank of Chōsen, it was known from 1957 to 1977 as Nippon F ...
.


Buildings

Like other banks of its era, the Bank of Chōsen invested in high-quality architecture. Its Seoul (Hanseong / Keijō) head office was originally planned for Dai-Ichi Bank in 1907, on a design by
Tatsuno Kingo was a Japanese architect born in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, Kyushu. He was a Doctor of Engineering; conferred as Jusanmi (従三位, Junior Third Rank) and Kunsanto (勲三等, Order of Third Class); and served as dean of Architecture Departm ...
who had also designed the Tokyo headquarters of the Bank of Japan a decade earlier. The building was under construction when the Bank of Korea was established, and only completed in 1912 after rebranding as Bank of Chōsen. It was heavily damaged during the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, reopened after repairs in 1956-1958, renovated in 1987-1989, and reopened in 2001 as the Bank of Korea Money Museum. File:(27)京城朝鮮銀行(朝鮮名所).jpg, Head office upon completion in 1912 File:BankofKoreaMuseum.jpg, Former head office in 2005, after repurposing as Money Museum File:Incheon 1Bank.jpg, Former branch in
Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...
, inherited from Dai-Ichi Bank File:Former The Bank of Chosen Gunsan branch.jpg, Former branch in
Gunsan Gunsan (; ), also romanized as Kunsan, is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-t ...
, repurposed as Modern Architecture Museum File:Bank of Chosen Dairen Branch.JPG, Former branch in
Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...
, built in 1920, photographed before 1945 File:Old Chosen Bank Dalian Branch-20050822.JPG, The same building in 2005 File:朝鮮銀行奉天支店.jpeg, Former branch in
Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...
, photographed before 1945 File:朝鲜银行奉天支店旧址.jpg, The same building in 2023 File:天津朝鲜银行大楼.jpg, Former branch in
Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
File:Former Bank of Chosen in Qingdao 01 2007-04.jpg, Former branch in
Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...
, built in 1930 File:The Tahsing building of Hsinking.jpg, Manchurian Industrial Bank head office building in Changchun, photographed before 1945 File:大興ビル(大兴大厦)旧址 remains of Hsinking - panoramio.jpg, The same building under renovation in 2011


Leadership

* , President from October 1909 to October 1915 * Shōda Kazue, President from December 1915 to October 1916 * , President from November 1916 to February 1924 * Nonaka Kiyoshi, President from February 1924 to July 1925 * , President from July 1925 to December 1927 * , President from December 1927 to December 1937 * Matsubara Junichi, President from December 1937 to December 1942 * , President from December 1942 to September 1945 * U.S. Major B.D. Smith, President from September 1945 to June 1950


See also

*
Eighteenth Bank The Eighteenth National Bank, from 1897 the Eighteenth Bank (, ''Juhachi Ginko''), was a Japanese bank headquartered in Nagasaki. Established in 1877, it was one of the National Banks in Meiji Japan which were numbered by chronological order of es ...
* Chôsen Industrial Bank *
Korean Yen The yen was the currency of Korea under Japanese rule, Korea, Empire of Japan between 1910 and 1945. It was equivalent to the Japanese yen and consisted of Japanese currency and banknotes issued specifically for Korea. The yen was subdivided i ...
*
List of central banks This is a list of central banks. Central banks by alphabetical order This is a list of central banks. Countries that are only partially recognized internationally are marked with an asterisk (*). Major central banks by currency allocation p ...


References


External links


Bank of Korea, ''A Brief History of Korean Currency''
(404: 2013-04-16) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bank of Korea (1909-1950)
Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
Defunct companies of Japan 1910 establishments in Korea 1950 disestablishments in Korea Banks established in 1910 Banks disestablished in 1950 Economy of Korea under Japanese rule Companies of Korea under Japanese rule Defunct banks of Korea Defunct banks of Japan