The Business Travel System of Chosen Government General Covering Europe, America and Their Colonies

The Chosen Government General[朝鮮總督府] dispatched 321 officials to Europe & America from 1910 to 1939 on a business travel. High-ranking officials were mainly dispatched to the U.K., France, Germany, and the U.S. including their colonies. The business travel to Europe & America was a shortcut to success of officials. Only three Korean officials at the Chosen Government General were dispatched to the Europe & America. The first business travel to Europe & America by Korean officials in the 1920s was part of measures to appease Korean officials dissatisfied with discriminatory treatment and induce their loyalty. The business travels to Europe & America, which began in 1910, surged between 1912 and 1913, but plunged due to the outbreak of World War I. However, the number of business travels to Europe & America increased rapidly, reaching an average of 22 per year in the 1920s. The business travel to Europe & America was so expensive, but the Chosen Government General gave officials more chance to overseas business travel in the 1920s. Saito makoto[齋藤實] who took a governor[總督] of Chosen shortly after the March 1st Independence Movement[3ㆍ1 運動], sent many officials to Europe & America in the process of seeking effective governing method and calming down the worsening international public opinion. Due to the Great Depression in 1929 and the expansion of the 1930s wartime system, the number of business travels to Europe & America plunged to an average of five per year in the 1930s and 1939 was the last dispatch. In this paper, the field of business travel officials was divided into general administration[一般行政], jurisdiction[司法], education[敎育], medical treatment[醫療], agriculture forestry & fisheries[農林水産], monopoly[專賣], industry[工業], railway[鐵道], communications & postal services[遞信] based on the purpose of business travel and continuity of work after officials returning to Chosen. General administration and education officials accounted for half of all Europe & America business travelers. The average length of business travel was 10 months. Traveling in the medical and industrial fields for the purpose of acquiring professional skills was longer than other fields. Most of the general administrative officials' business travels were made to broaden their knowledge without clear purpose. In other areas, however, dispatch of business travel to Europe & America was done to develop solutions to the problems faced by the Chosen Government General or to improve the professionalism of officials. This study failed to specifically analyze the contents of the surveys conducted by the officials as well as the effect it had on Chosen. These limitations will be supplemented in each field through additional research in the future. In addition, a study that Comprehensive analysis on Chosen Government General policy of survey of Europe & America by connecting the business travel system with overseas researcher system[在外硏究員制度] is left as a future task.