Chōsen Industrial Bank
A colonial-era Korean financial institution formed in 1918 through the consolidation of six agricultural and industrial banks and liquidated in 1954.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Chōsen Industrial Bank was a major financial institution operating in Korea during Japanese colonial rule and through the first years of the Republic of Korea. Established in June 1918 by the Japanese colonial authorities, it was created through the merger of six agricultural and industrial banks that had developed from institutions founded during the final years of the Korean Empire. Its predecessor network had been associated with a Japanese-backed program intended to expand agricultural and industrial credit, but the consolidated bank became an important instrument of the colonial economic system. The bank’s principal business was the provision and direction of credit for agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and other activities favored by the colonial administration. Alongside the Bank of Chōsen and the Oriental Development Company, it helped channel capital according to Japanese policy priorities. Its lending role gave it substantial influence over economic development in Korea, while also making it a visible symbol of Japanese financial control. The institution’s broad branch network enabled it to operate across the peninsula. By 1924 it had 47 offices and more than 400 employees, making it the largest bank in colonial Korea according to contemporary descriptions of its scale. Chōsen Industrial Bank differed in some respects from the Bank of Chōsen. Koreans represented a comparatively larger share of its workforce, and the bank was described as providing equal treatment to Korean and Japanese employees. In 1928, Koreans accounted for 254 of its 794 employees, or approximately 32 percent, compared with approximately 16 percent at the Bank of Chōsen. By 1943, the bank had 498 employees, including 150 Koreans. These figures did not remove the institution from the colonial system, but they contributed to a somewhat smoother personnel transition after Japan’s defeat in 1945. The bank also became a target of Korean independence activists because of its association with colonial economic domination. In late 1926, activist Na Seok-ju threw a bomb at the bank’s Seoul headquarters in a widely remembered attack. In 1936, Chōsen Industrial Bank absorbed the Korean operations of Japan’s Eighteenth Bank. During the Second World War, it was designated in 1942 as an agency for lending connected with Japan’s War Treasury, further tying its operations to wartime finance. After liberation in 1945, the United States Army Military Government in Korea assumed control of the bank’s management, while the institution’s Japanese branch was liquidated under an order associated with the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. The bank’s Korean personnel and managers helped facilitate continuity, and the institution unsuccessfully sought to assume monetary authority from the Bank of Chōsen. In 1948, ownership and management passed to the newly established government of South Korea. The institution was renamed Korea Industrial Bank in February 1950. It was liquidated by presidential decree on 1 April 1954. Its central operations were transferred to the newly created Korea Development Bank, while its branches were taken over by Korea Savings Bank, later associated with Korea First Bank and subsequently Standard Chartered Korea. The liquidation process was completed in April 1982. The historical bank should not be confused with the much later Industrial Bank of Korea, a separate institution. Its former buildings remain part of Korea’s architectural and financial history. The Seoul head office, expanded between 1920 and 1922, later served as the headquarters of Korea Development Bank before being demolished in 1983 for redevelopment. The former Daegu branch, built in 1931–1932, later served Korea Development Bank and, after renovation, became the Daegu Modern History Museum in 2011. Other surviving or documented branch buildings include those in Gimcheon, Busan, and Chungju.
History
The institutional origins of Chōsen Industrial Bank lay in a Korean Empire program initiated in 1906 at the urging of Japanese financial adviser Megata Tanetarō. The Korean government authorized agricultural and industrial banks intended to stimulate economic activity and provide financing at the local level. Eleven such institutions had been established by 1908, including Hanseong Agricultural and Industrial Bank in present-day Seoul. In 1908, these institutions were consolidated into six regional banks. Japanese colonial authorities merged the six banks in June 1918 to create Chōsen Industrial Bank. The new institution combined a nationwide network with a mandate suited to colonial development policy. It extended credit to agricultural and industrial activities and helped direct capital toward sectors favored by the administration. Together with the Bank of Chōsen, it was one of the principal financial mechanisms through which Japan influenced the Korean economy. By 1924, it operated 47 offices and employed more than 400 people, making it the largest bank in colonial Korea. The bank’s role gave it significance beyond ordinary commercial banking. Korean historians and later observers have treated it as one of the major instruments of Japanese economic domination, alongside the Oriental Development Company. Its Seoul head office stood on the capital’s principal commercial thoroughfare, and the institution’s branches reached cities throughout the peninsula. The bank consequently became a target for the independence movement. In late 1926, Na Seok-ju attacked the Seoul headquarters with a bomb. Personnel patterns distinguished the bank from the Bank of Chōsen. Chōsen Industrial Bank employed a larger proportion of Koreans and was described as applying equal treatment to Korean and Japanese staff. Koreans made up 254 of 794 employees in 1928, about 32 percent of the workforce. By 1943, the bank employed 498 people, 150 of them Korean. These characteristics later helped preserve operational continuity after liberation, although the bank remained a colonial institution created and directed under Japanese rule. In 1936, the bank expanded by taking over the Korean operations of Japan’s Eighteenth Bank. Wartime mobilization brought a further change in its function. In 1942 it was designated an agency for Japanese War Treasury lending in Korea, linking its credit operations directly to Japan’s wartime financial apparatus. Japan’s surrender in 1945 ended the colonial administrative framework. The United States Army Military Government in Korea assumed management of the bank, and the Japanese branch was liquidated under an order associated with Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur. The bank’s relatively high proportion of Korean employees and managers allowed a smoother transition than occurred at some other Japanese colonial enterprises. Under its post-liberation Korean administration, the institution sought, without success, to take over monetary authority from the Bank of Chōsen. In 1948, ownership and management passed to the newly established government of South Korea. The institution was renamed Korea Industrial Bank in February 1950. Its separate postwar identity was short-lived: on 1 April 1954, presidential decree No. 859 ordered its liquidation. The bank’s central functions were transferred to Korea Development Bank, while its branches passed to Korea Savings Bank, an institution later connected with Korea First Bank and Standard Chartered Korea. Liquidation was finally completed in April 1982. The bank’s physical legacy survived in several cities. Its Seoul headquarters was constructed in the 1910s and enlarged from 1920 to 1922. Korea Development Bank used the building after 1954, but it was demolished in 1983 to make way for redevelopment as the main branch of Lotte Department Store. The Daegu branch, erected in 1931–1932, later served Korea Development Bank until 2008 and became the Daegu Modern History Museum after renovation in 2011. Earlier branch sites and buildings also existed in Gimcheon, Busan, and Chungju; the Chungju branch building dates from 1933 and remains extant.
- 2011
Former Daegu branch becomes a museum
[1]After renovation, the former Daegu branch building began hosting the Daegu Modern History Museum.
- 1982
Liquidation completed
[1]The long-running liquidation process was completed in April.
- 1954
Liquidation ordered
[1]Presidential decree No. 859 ordered liquidation on 1 April; central operations and branches were reassigned to successor institutions.
- 1950
Renamed Korea Industrial Bank
[1]The institution adopted the name Korea Industrial Bank in February.
- 1948
South Korean government assumes ownership
[1]Ownership and management passed to the newly established government of Korea.
- 1945
Post-liberation management changes
[1]The United States Army Military Government in Korea assumed management after Japan’s surrender, while the Japanese branch was liquidated.
- 1942
Assigned War Treasury lending role
[1]The bank became an agency for lending connected with Japan’s War Treasury in Korea.
- 1936
Eighteenth Bank operations are absorbed
[1]Chōsen Industrial Bank took over the Korean operations of Japan’s Eighteenth Bank.
- 1926
Na Seok-ju attacks the Seoul headquarters
[1]Independence activist Na Seok-ju threw a bomb at the bank’s Seoul head office.
- 1924
Bank reaches largest-bank status in colonial Korea
[1]The institution had 47 offices and more than 400 employees, making it the largest bank in Korea under Japanese rule.
Products and positioning
A state-supported development and industrial-credit bank serving as a major channel for Japanese colonial economic policy in Korea.
Banking service · 1918
Agricultural credit
Agricultural lending was part of the bank’s inherited mandate and central operating purpose. The institution descended from locally organized agricultural and industrial banks and used its branch network to provide or direct credit for farming-related economic activity under colonial financial policy.
Banking service · 1918
Industrial credit
Industrial lending was the other major element of the bank’s mandate. Chōsen Industrial Bank supplied and allocated credit to industrial activity and development projects favored by the colonial administration, making it a significant component of Japan’s economic management in Korea.
Government-directed finance · 1942
War Treasury lending
From 1942, the bank acted as an agency for lending associated with Japan’s War Treasury in Korea. This function connected its ordinary financial infrastructure to wartime mobilization and government-directed credit.
Brand decisions
1954
Liquidation and transfer of operationsOtherBackground
The South Korean government reorganized the postcolonial financial system and replaced the former institution with successor bodies.
Action taken
Presidential decree No. 859 ordered liquidation of Korea Industrial Bank; central operations went to Korea Development Bank and branches to Korea Savings Bank.
Aftermath
The bank ceased operating as an independent institution, although its functions and physical network continued through successor banks.
1936
Absorption of Eighteenth Bank’s Korean operationsM&ABackground
Japan’s Eighteenth Bank maintained operations in Korea before the consolidation.
Action taken
Chōsen Industrial Bank took over the Korean operations of Eighteenth Bank.
Aftermath
The transaction expanded the bank’s operational presence in Korea.
1918
Consolidation of six predecessor banksM&ABackground
The colonial authorities sought to combine the six regional agricultural and industrial banks into a single institution with broader reach and stronger policy capacity.
Action taken
The six banks were merged to form Chōsen Industrial Bank.
Aftermath
The merger created a nationwide financial institution that became one of the main channels for colonial economic lending.
Sources1 sources
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