Review of Nak Nyeon Kim, Nihon Teikokushugika no Chōsen Keizai (The Korean Economy Under the Japanese Rule)

Abstract

What was the total picture of Japanese investments in colonial Korea? How did these investments change over time, particularly with regards to areas of investment? These are the central questions to this work. Kim Nak Nyeon provides concrete evidence concerning how Japanese investments shaped Korea's economy in the following chapters: Chapter 4 deals with agricultural investment during the 1920s; Chapter 5 covers Korean industrialization during the 1930s; Chapter 6 examines the transformation of Japanese capital exports during the Pacific War. Chapter 3 serves as an introduction to the entire work. Kim has successfully achieved a difficult task to write objectively about the history of his country under colonial rule with this book. Moreover, scholars in both Japan and Korea will appreciate this work as important step towards the development of a shared approach in the study of colonial economic history.

This is a translation of a book review that originally appeared in Shakai Keizai Shigaku 69(2) (July 2003), 114–115.