Jon Dunbar is a copy editor at The Korea Times, as well as editor of the Foreign Community page and curator of the Korea Times Archive. If you have suggestions for possible articles, or wish to contribute articles yourself, contact jdunbar@koreatimes.co.kr.
There's gold in them thar hills
From left: Fred Dustin, unidentified Canadian, Herb Gidney, Lou Nonini (Koryo's mining engineer), Roland Tims and Gladys Caughran. Circa July 1969. / Robert Neff Collection
By Jon Dunbar
By Steven L. Shields
Gold mining is not and has never been one of Korea's major industries. Nonetheless, there was a lot of mining done during the 20th century. Millions and millions of “dollars” worth of gold were mined by British, American and Japanese concerns. Gold mining on the Korean Peninsula may have been done as early as 1100 BC. There are many grave goods ― gold crowns and the like ― that testify to the availability of the precious mineral.
Edwin W. Mills, who was connected with mining operations in Korea for over 10 years prior, gave a comprehensive paper to the
Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch (RASKB)
, published 1916. In the paper, he
collated information from mining company officials, government data and historical records
, dating to the 1880s. Mills told his listeners that Korea's geology was favorable to gold deposits, because of recent volcanic rock intruding into more ancient geological formations. In geological timelines, “recent” means a “few million years ago.” He also noted there could be found large deposits of gold-containing gravels throughout the peninsula.
In the early 20th century, the three biggest mining centers were at Chiksan, Suan and Unsan, all up north. Mills' report was interesting, in that he explained how Korea could be divided into two geological regions: north and south. His geological dividing line ― explained decades before the division of the nation at the end of World War II ― approximates on the 38th parallel. Most gold production was taking place in northern Korea, where the deposits were richer than in the south.
Historical records ― from the time of Mahan, through Silla, Goguryeo and Joseon ― record tributes of gold and silver being sent to the various Chinese empires over time ― large amounts, hundreds of kilograms. Kings at various times outlawed mining ― for example in 1724 when King Yeongjo declared an end to mining. An interesting uprising took place in 1811 in Pyongyang, when 5,000 miners rebelled and supported the efforts of a wealthy citizen, Hong Gyeong-na, to set up his own kingdom. The miners' army took control of several cities before government troops came in and put down the rebellion.
At Unsan in northern Korea, there was a large American mining operation under the Oriental Consolidated Mining Company. In those years, the American mines were producing 75% of the gold in Korea. The French, Germans, British, Italians and Japanese were all working mines throughout the peninsula. More than 50,000 Koreans were employed in the mines, with several thousand Chinese and Japanese laborers.
A
recent Korea Times article by historian Robert Neff
tells their story from 1916 and includes a photo of the July 4 baseball game winners. Indeed, Neff wrote, it was said the mine stopped operations only once a year ― the American Independence Day. Events on that day included plenty of food, games and races for the children, greased pig chases, and so forth ― all of those being typical of American July 4 community events. American and Korean families joined in the event. The baseball game, however, as was so true in America at the time and many decades later, was the highlight of the day.
Mining went on reasonably unabated after Japan annexed Korea. The Japanese occupiers were happy to reap the benefits of the efforts. However, as World War II loomed, most all the concessions were sold to the Japanese, and the Westerners abandoned the country.
After the Korean War, some American companies revived interest in gold mining. Of course, this was restricted to what had become the southern part of the divided peninsula. Nonetheless, the mines in the South were modestly productive. In the 1960s, taking trips out of the city to the deep countryside was popular among the expatriate community in Korea. Some photos from 1969 show a small group visiting one of the mines and scouting for rocks containing gold. Several tourists and at least one mining executive (Fred Dustin) were members of the RASKB, including the one woman on an excursion in July 1969, Gladys Caughran.
Readers of The Korea Times have been recently regaled with stories about miners in the early Japanese occupation era, and again in the 1960s. Neff, an expert on the history of late 19th and 20th-century gold mining, will be presenting a
, at 7:30 p.m. in the second-floor lounge of Somerset Palace in downtown Seoul. All are welcome; non-members pay 10,000 won and students pay 5,000 won.
Steven L. Shields, a retired cleric, serves as a vice president of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (www.raskb.com) and is a columnist for The Korea Times.