Korea

Finance and Money.

Until 1904 the finances of Korea were completely disorganized ; the currency was chaotic, and the budget was an official formality making little or no attempt at accuracy. By agreement of the 22nd of August 1904, Korea accepted a Jap anese financial adviser. The currency was nominally on a silver standard. The coins chiefly in use were (i.) copper cash, which were strung in hundreds on strings of straw, and, as about 91b. weight was equal to one shilling, were excessively cumbrous, but nevertheless stood at their face value; (ii.) nickel coins, which, being profitable to mint, were issued in enormous quantities, quickly depreciated, and were moreover extensively forged. The Dai Ichi Ginko (First Bank of Japan), which has a branch in Seoul and agencies in other towns, was made the government central treasury, and its notes were recognized as legal tender in Korea. The currency of Korea being thus fixed, the first step was to reorganize the nickel coinage. From the 1st of August 1905 the old nickels paid into the treasury were remitted and the issue carefully regulated; so also with the cash, which was retained as a subsidiary coinage, while a supplementary coinage was issued of silver r o-sen pieces and bronze I-sen and half-sen pieces.

Religion.

Buddhism, which swayed Korea from the loth to the 14th century, has been discredited for three centuries; Con fucianism is the official cult and Confucian ethics are the basis of morality and social order. Ancestor-worship is universal. The popular cult is, however, the propitiation of demons, a modifica tion of the Shamanism of northern Asia.

Putting aside the temporary Christian work of a Jesuit chaplain to the Japanese Christian General Konishe, in 1594, during the Japanese invasion, as well as that on a larger scale by students who received the evangel in the Roman form from Peking in '792, and had made 4,000 converts by the end of the first serious attempt at the conversion of Korea was made by the French Societe des Missions Etrangeres in 1835. Protestant missionaries entered Korea in 1884-85 and an English bishop, clergy, doctors and nursing sisters arrived in 1890. Hospitals, orphanages, schools and an admirable college in Seoul have been founded, along with tri-lingual (Chinese, Korean and English) printing-presses; re ligious, historical and scientific works and the Bible have been translated into On-mun. There are now over 25o Protestant and 6o Roman Catholic missionaries in the country.

Education.

The old Chinese system of education and exam ination has been abolished in favour of a Japanese curriculum. The Koreans are expert linguists, and the government made liberal grants to the linguistic schools.

Modern Development.

In recent years Japan has felt to the full the strain of an undeveloped country as a Colony and much careful thought and great expenditure has been necessary in arranging the affairs of the country on a workable basis. From a peculiarly nationalistic attitude this arrangement has meant the "Japanizing" of Korea—the money, postage stamps, newspapers, institutions, administration, buildings, all are typical of modern Japan and bear its direct imprint. Place-names are "Japanized" too, since the railways are Japanese and although there is a vernacular press all the powerful newspapers appear only in Japanese.

In June 1905 a law of four years earlier whereby Japanese money was to be the currency of Korea was put in force and thus Korea gave up the silver for a gold standard. The First Bank (Dai Ichi Ginko) was supplanted as a central bank by the Bank of Korea (renamed Bank of Chosen in 1911). The deposits in Korean banks in 1925 totalled the amazing figure of £424,950,200. Only in remote parts of the country is the old nickel coinage and cash seen and this is fast disappearing.

The note is the principal medium of exchange in Korea and the volume of note issue has rapidly expanded. This has tended to foster foreign trade, especially with Japan and as this increases so the government puts on foot various enterprises for the further development of the country and the still greater expansion of foreign trade. The salt production in 1920 still being insufficient for home consumption the government laid out further thousands of acres of salt pans. The production of tobacco is being in creased to help the Japanese Government monopoly and the first experiments have met with decided success.

With the extended use of ginseng as a medicine in Korea, China and Japan as well as throughout Manchuria, the output has been increasing year by year, though no exact figures are available. A government scheme of afforestation is in working order over the 14,000,000 ac. of forest lands. The earlier mining laws were super seded in 1916 by one prohibiting foreigners from acquiring mining rights except as a legal Japanese corporation.