It is has been said that the earliest organized labor strikes in Korea took place at Kunsan and Mokpo in 1897. I can’t verify or disagree but I do know that there were strikes at Chemulpo in the late 1890s, Mokpo in 1903 and at various times at the gold mining concessions in northern Korea. It is easy to see how some of these incidents got started. in 1886, one early visitor wrote:
“It is no wonder that these people [Koreans] shun and avoid hard labor and tend to sneak away from it and hide. However, they find themselves in a worse situation. The overseers of the ship and the Korean tax collectors are all armed with flexible sticks with hooks at the end of them and when they come across a shirker they commence to beat him severely with the sticks. The more they are beat, the more willing and submissive they become. They don’t dare speak a word of complaint. It was in this fashion that we happily loaded some 4,000 sacks of rice by four in the afternoon.”
You can read the rest of the article here.
And, for those who are interested in reading about the life and death of an early depraved American – you can read about George W. Lake and the subsequent trial of his murderer.
Picture credit – My Collection circa 1910-1920
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interesting photo!
A very interesting read. I always appreciate the results of your research!
Robert, you have got to stop by the Bohae building that is close to the train terminal. Back in their parking lot is a hand-cut, stone building that was the original distillery from many years ago. I wish they would renovate that and turn it into a showroom attraction.
I love old photos of Korea.
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