The Gunsan Customs Office: An Example of Trade and Commerce during the Colonial Rule of Korea
Updated: Jan 18, 2025
Name: Gunsan Customs Office
Architect: N/A
Date: 1908
Materials: Brick, wood, concrete
Location: Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea
Lying on the western coast of Korea lies the city of Gunsan. Its history is long, but arguably the most important era in Gunsan’s history was Japanese imperial rule during the first half of the 20th century. In 1899, Gunsan’s port opened to foreign trade after a long time of isolationism during the Joseon dynasty that preceded the port’s opening. Soon after its opening in 1899, the Gunsan Settlement was established in the area of modern-day Gunsan, opening up the area for settlement by foreign traders. However, because of Japanese aggression in the region, the settlement was soon filled with Japanese traders, effectively making the city exclusively Japanese-controlled. Only a decade later, the Japanese colonised the entirety of Korea, along with the port of Gunsan. Due to its naturally advantageous location, the port quickly became a bustling port city, with its main export being rice from the surrounding fields.
Because of Japanese control of the area, soon the city became a hub for Japanese presence in Korea. One significant example of their presence that has lasted to the modern day is the architecture present in the city. Due to the area’s immense wealth from trade, many wealthy Japanese traders set up shop in the city, allowing for the funding of many impressive public buildings to be built. These buildings that were built were mainly of a Western style with European influences. This is due to the modernisation efforts of the Japanese earlier in the late 19th century, which focused on bringing the Japanese technologically and militarily on par with the European powers they envied.
A famous example of this type of architecture in Gunsan is the Gunsan Customs Office. It was designed in 1906 by a German architect (name unknown) and built by 1908 near the port of Gunsan from mainly bricks imported from modern-day Belgium. Due to its importance as a centre of trade and commerce within the city, it is clear that this building is one of the most, if not the most important historic building within the city. Trade and commerce defined the city of Gunsan under colonial rule, and this building exemplifies that era. It is where all of the rice, the driver of Gunsan’s colonial economy, was inspected and shipped off where the merchants that sent them would make money for the city.
It is also this importance to Gunsan’s trade that also sets it apart from other historic buildings in the area as other buildings only show the wealth gained from colonial rule. For example, the Hirotsu house, also in Gunsan city, was a Japanese merchant’s house. Although its beauty and serenity can show the city’s wealth, it only shows what the money was used for, but not how the money was gained itself as opposed to the Gunsan Customs Office. It is also for this reason that this building was chosen for this blog post, as it directly shows the heart of Gunsan’s colonial economy.
Currently, the building is classified as a cultural property and is under protection from development. Furthermore, it has reopened as a history museum that showcases the goods that once passed through the office’s doors.
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