Changes in the Business Environment under the Wartime Control Economy and the Response of the Gyeongseong (Keijō) Electric Co.

Abstract

Using the case study of the Gyeongseong (Keij?) Electric Co., this study examines how individual enterprises responded to the changes in the management environment during the era of wartime control. In the aftermath of the onset of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the Government-General of Joseon established urban plans for the Gyeong-In area that consisted of developing it into a center of the munitions industry, and emphasized the role of Joseon as a military supply and forward base for operations on the mainland. The Gyeongseong Electric Co. responded to the policy of the Government-General of Joseon by rapidly increasing facility investment. The necessary funds were secured through loans from financial institutions and the issuing of corporate bonds. As such, the principle of sound management based on a refusal to introduce loans, a principle which had been maintained since the late 1910s, was effectively abandoned. On the other hand, the Gyeongseong Electric Co. also underwent a great change in its management structure as a result of the Government-General of Joseons national electric power management policy. The conclusion of the purchase of Shunsen (Chuncheon) Electric Co. and of the long-delayed merger with the Kong?san Electric Railway Co. made possible by the governments policy of integrating power distribution companies allowed the Gyeongseong Electric Co. to become a company that was engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of power. The business of the Gyeongseong Electric Co. was as such further diversified to include electricity, transport, gas, and railways. In terms of the ownership structure of the Gyeongseong Electric Co., the national financial agency came to exercise strengthened influence; moreover, individuals from the Government-General of Joseon, national financial agency, and the Kong?san Electric Railway Co. were appointed to the core management group. It was against this backdrop that the Gyeongseong Electric Co. cooperated with the Government-General of Joseon in the establishment of a mobilization system, and adopted the state-based enterprise management philosophy characterized by the prioritization of the public interest and selfless devotion to the country.