The Government-General of Korea reconstructed Korea’s major ports in the 1920s. Construction of ports in Jinnampo, Incheon, Wonsan, and Seongjin had already begun and was completed in the 1920s. The ports of Gunsan, Mokpo, Cheongjin, Unggi, and Dasado (island) were also being constructed in this period. The expansion of port facilities resulted from increased trade volumes. An economic boom during the First World War led to increased trade in Japan and a rapid increase in the volume of Korean exports and imports, worth 505,000,000 won in 1919. However, as of 1927, 90 percent of Korean exports and over 70 percent of imports were with Japan. This indicates that Korea’s increased trade volume was the result of an increasing trade dependency toward Japan. Furthermore, the major exported item was rice and it was easy to see stacks of rice sacks at Korea’s main ports. The major trade ports for rice were called “Gunsan of Rice” and “Incheon of Rice” and so on. In other words, the reconstruction of Korea’s port facilities helped to increase trade volumes; at the same time they intensified Korea’s economic subordination to Japan and eased the export and shipment of rice.
- Ground plan of port construction
- Site for port construction
- Tower to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony for Gunsan port
- View of the groundbreaking ceremony
- Attendees taking seats
- Congratulatory address by Shinto priest
- Saito Makoto and his party boarding a ship at the first pier structure
- Cornerstone
- Governor-General Saito Makoto laying a cornerstone
- Landing on the third pier structure
- Ceremonial hall at Gunsan-bu (city)
- Dedication ceremony at Gunsan Shrine
- Gunsan-bu (city) residents at the groundbreaking ceremony
- Gunsan-bu (city) residents at the groundbreaking ceremony
- View of Gunsan port with piles of straw rice bags
- View of Incheon port
- Lock gate after construction
- Large steamer passing through the lock gate
- Inside the dock
- Inside the dock, loading grain
- Incheon Station, the connecting line from Incheon port
- Incheon Customs
- Rice bags piled up in front of warehouse
- Rice mill and the Incheon grain inspection office