 |
| Bank of Chosen in Seoul circa 1920-1930s Robert Neff Collection |
By Robert Neff
In early December 1897, rumors began to circulate that Russia was going to attempt to take control of Korea economically ― it was going to establish a bank in Seoul. On Dec. 8, J. Hunt, the commissioner of Korean Customs at Fusan, sent a missive to John Jordan, the British consul-general in Seoul, in which he reported that a Russian from Vladivostok named V.M. Koreylin would soon travel to Jemulpo and take up residence.
Koreylin was "ostensibly as [an] agent for the Russo-Corean Bank" but was in reality a commercial agent for the Russian government and would remain at Jemulpo for no more than three years, during which time he would try to obtain all the concessions he could ― through loans to the Korean government ― so that Russia could "grab" Korea.
 |
| Ad in the Korea Repository March 1898 |
Horace N. Allen, the American minister to Korea, was also concerned about this new Russian venture. He suspected the Russian government had agreed to provide Korea with a load to "pay off Korean financial obligations to Japan" in return for the establishment of a bank ― possibly to "take over and conduct a Korean bank that is just now being started by influential Koreans."
By the end of January 1898, the local newspapers began to advertise the imminent establishment of the Russo-Korean Bank (British documents refer to it as the Russo-Corean Bank). In a report to his government, Jordan explained:
"A site has been secured in the vicinity of the Russian Legation, on which it is intended to erect extensive premises, and, in the meantime temporary quarters have been obtained in one of the many foreign buildings which have sprung up here recently in anticipation, doubtless, of the coming influx of Russians."
The temporary quarters were in a large brick building just within the West Gate and next to the Presbyterian chapel.
On March 1, 1898, the bank formally opened its doors to numerous visitors. According to The Independent (a newspaper published in Seoul), "There were many gratulatory remarks for the managers" ― Gabriel and Koreylin, who "were both Russian gentlemen of ability and prominence in the financial circles of Russia and China" ― and their "bright and well-informed" Scottish assistant. The newspaper also noted that everyone wished them great success in their enterprise ― but this wasn't necessarily true.
From the beginning, Russian newspapers declared the establishment of the bank "as one of the most important steps in developing commerce and industrial enterprises between Russia and Korea." When Alexis de Speyer, the Russian representative to Korea, announced that his government had authorized the establishment of the bank, he stated the purpose was so that "the two governments may become joint partners in the undertaking."
 |
| Bank of Chosen in Seoul in 1948 Robert Neff Collection |
However, Jordan noted "the principal object of its establishment [was] that it should fill the functions of a Corean Government Bank, and receive the Government revenues." This, as well as many other proposed Russian enterprises, had "alarmed the [Korean] King and his Ministers, and have opened their eyes to the gravity of the change that was forced upon them by de Speyer" and that the Korean monarch was "exercising his ingenuity in endeavoring to find a way of escape from an arrangement which places him under the financial tutelage of Russia…"
Three weeks prior to the bank's formal opening, Jordan warned his government that the bank "embraces amongst its privileges and rights 'the transport of goods by sea and land' ― a provision which bears the appearance of having been framed with a view to future contingencies rather than present requirements."
One of the first proposed operations of the bank was to establish a company to construct a railroad to Russian-controlled Port Arthur (Lushun), China. This and the increased requests for land and naval concessions alarmed the Korean populace and the various foreign representatives in Seoul.
 |
| A Russian coin from 1899 Image from a video exhibit at the Bank of Korea Money Museum in September 2018. |
When the leaders of the Independence Club learned of the bank's privileges, they sent a letter of protest to the minister of finance which was subsequently published in The Independent:
"The public has been informed that the Finance Department drew the deposits of Government money from the two local Korean banks and deposited it in the Russo-Korean Bank. Besides there is a rumor to the effect that your department has transferred a large sum of money from the treasury vault to that of the Russian bank. Furthermore, the said bank has been authorized to collect and disburse all the Government revenues for the Finance Department. This matter concerns the people and they ought to know the facts of the case. If these rumors are true we must consider that the Russo-Korean Bank is practically our treasury and your department will be a figure head. We hope this is not true but after hearing such rumors we are, in the sense of our moral obligation which we owe to the Government, deeply interested and are anxious to know the exact relation and privileges which the said bank has obtained from the Government."
 |
| A Korean coin from 1901 Image from a video exhibit at the Bank of Korea Money Museum in September 2018 |
Jordan explained to his government that the bank has been "established on a comparatively extensive scale" but was not able to generate the amount of profit it would need in order to succeed as there were three other foreign banks in Korea ― two Japanese and one British ("the latter an agency of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank.")
Jordan also pointed out that the establishment of the bank was due to de Speyer who, when he first arrived in Korea, declared it was his intention "to secure the control of Corean finances and the manipulation of Corean Government money." He triumphantly added: "The removal of the bank would seem to indicate that the decision of the Russian Government to abandon the policy initiated by de Speyer is final."
The Russo-Korean Bank passed quite quickly through the pages of Korean history, leaving little evidence of its existence (no buildings or known photographs) but it did leave its eagle ― on the back of some extremely rare and highly prized Korean coins.
Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
![[INTERVIEW] 'Korea, US can create synergy in space industry': NASA ambassador](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/97d561c153754ca19e3c626ec734eb82.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
