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6. Between Metropole and Hinterland: The Quest for Markets
- University of Washington Press
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CHAPTER 6 Between Metropole and Hinterland The Quest for Markets Production in itself involves only expense. To transform debits into credits, production must be complemented by marketing, which involves two different though related areas. The first concerns the distribution channels through which any company sells its products. The second refers to the market structure itself- the particular pattern or configuration of the company's sales, that is, what the company is selling to whom and why. Marketing in this dual sense was to mean for Kyongbang a deepening of that dependency relationship with Japanese capitalism already seen in the company's procurement of raw materials and technology. In the end, moreover, the marketing of its goods led Kyongbang into active collaboration with Japanese imperialism in Manchuria and China and greatly increased the company's tangible stake in the perpetuation of the empire. Distribution It would be wrong to suggest that Kyongbang was totally dependent on Japanese trading companies for the marketing of its yarn and cloth. The reality was much more complicated. Ultimately the company did turn to Japanese firms, but both before and afterward it utilized other marketing methods as well. The crucial concern of the company was to sell its goods - a need that approached desperation in its early years -and any and all means deemed useful were employed. The Government-General proved to be helpful in a number of ways. We noted earlier that the government's subsidies to Kyongbang were a key factor in the company's ability to survive in the midst of competition from Japanese exports in the 1920s. The colonial authorities also sponsored periodic trade fairs to promote Korean products.1 Either 154 The Quest for Markets 155 directly or indirectly, through such semiofficial organizations as the Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the government also organized fact-finding missions to explore potential new markets; Kim Yonsu, for example, participated in such a mission to Manchuria (sponsored by the P'yongyang city government) in 1921.2 After Manchuria became an independent state under Japanese tutelage , such tours became even more frequent, and the GovernmentGeneral , as part of its general policy of building a JapaneseManchurian economic bloc, made a point of assisting any companies that were interested in the Manchurian market. Thus shortly after the establishment of Manchukuo in 1932, the Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry arranged a fact-finding trip across the Yalu in which Kyongbang participated.3 Several years later the GovernmentGeneral lent its full support, financial and otherwise, to Kyongbang's efforts to establish a new spinning and weaving facility in Manchuria itself. While government encouragement was valuable, it was also limited and occasional, at best a useful supplement to the company's regular marketing activities. In Kyongbang's early years the distribution of goods was handled for the most part by the company itself. It was an arduous process. Even though Kyongbang's prices were slightly lower than those of similar goods imported from Japan, the quality of the company's cloth was also somewhat inferior. Compared to the well-known Japanese brands like the "Triple N' exported by Toyobo, moreover, Kyongbang's cloth was virtually unknown. For such reasons Korean merchants at first refused even to carry Kyongbang's goods. The company poured almost 10 percent of its operating expenses into sales and sent its salesmen throughout the Seoul area virtually begging the merchants to handle its cloth, but the merchants generally declined. They were not even willing to sell Kyongbang's goods on a commission basis lest the company's unpopular cloth take up space that could be more profitably occupied by Japanese imports. Outside Seoul the situation was similar. The company became so desperate that it eventually dispatched its salesmen to local periodic markets, where they were forced to hawk the company's wares in competition with a host of other peddlers.4 Such measures were not entirely without effect. At the very least they helped introduce Kyongbang's cloth to Korean consumers. At the same time the quality of Kyongbang's cloth improved as the company became more experienced. Kyongbang was also fairly successful [34.204.3.195] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 00:33 GMT) 156 THE PATTERNS OF GROWTH in its appeals to nationalistic sentiment among Korean consumers, especially in the northern part of the peninsula.s In attempting to persuade potential customers to try its goods, the company focused its advertising on Kyongbang's unique position as a large-scale textile factory...