A Study of the Chousen Amnokgang Waterpower Corporation, a Chousen Special-Purpose Company Active in the 1930s

Abstract

As part of a research project on Korean special-purpose companies of the 1930s, this study empirically examined the formation and management of Joseon Amnokgang Waterpower Corporation which had undertaken the development of water power on the Amnokgang River since September 1937. In August 1937, the Japanese Government- General of Korea signed a joint operation agreement with Manchukuo to establish Joseon Amnokgang Waterpower Corporation. The company was an ordinary corporation formed by the pooling of private resources, unlike Manchuria Amnokgang Waterpower Corporation characterized as a government-owned special-purpose business entity. Furthermore, by setting up the Korea-Manchuria Amnokgang Joint Technical Committee, the Amnokgang Waterpower Development Committee and the Amnokgang Dam Technical Committee, the Japanese Government- General of Korea had the exclusively authority to supervise and control the overall progress of the Amnokgang River hydropower development project and was inextricably involved in the distribution of ownership. The first phase of the Amnokgang hydropower development plan was intended to build a global-scale dam and power plant in Supung, which started operations in August. The Supung Power Plant served southern Manchuria and the northwestern area of Korea with its power-generating capacity for plentiful and cheap electricity, contributing to the rise of energy-intensive industries and the heavy and chemical industrialization in the areas. Joseon Amnokgang Waterpower Corporation was a strategic capital entity and typical Korean special-purpose company the Japanese Government-General of Korea assigned to promote the development of key industries, by mobilizing capital, technological capabilities and business resources from the private sector.