Korea in the late 19th century was known in the West as a land of fabulous natural wealth — especially gold. Gold, said to fill every stream, was there for the taking by anyone willing to develop it, but surprisingly few Westerners were willing to take the chance. Potential investors prudently abandoned Korea and sought safer investments elsewhere.
When the Korean government wasn’t able to find any investors it took it upon itself, through Horace Allen, to start its own “modern” mining operations. The man chosen to guide Korea in its endeavors was Ida Pierce - a self-proclaimed mining expert from California. Others were not so generous with their opinions of him and declared him a “scoundrel,” a “stupendous fraud” and “the biggest ignoramus of an ‘American mining expert’ — so-called — that ever afflicted any country.”
The mining operation from the start was plagued with problems and ended even worse. The rest of the article can be read here.
One Comment
Interesting article… retarded ending: “It was an expensive lesson.” It implies that somebody Korean learned something. It seems that the only people who learned something was Americans not to trust Koreans to fulfill the terms of a contract…