Abolition of the Company Law and of Tariffs

Japan changed company founding from permission to simple reporting (1920) and abolished most tariffs on Japanese goods (1923). Japanese capital and goods poured in and Korean firms struggled.

Japanese capital, swollen during the First World War, was looking for new outlets. In 1920 the Government-General abolished the Company Law, replacing permission with simple reporting. Large Japanese firms moved in and built factories, while Koreans ran firms such as Gyeongseong Spinning and small factories such as Pyongyang’s knitwear and rubber-shoe works.

In 1923 tariffs between Japan and Korea were abolished except on some goods, and cheap Japanese products flooded in. Korean firms could hardly compete with Japanese conglomerates, and when the New Bank Ordinance of 1928 raised capital requirements, small Korean-owned banks were merged or closed.

Fear for national capital gave rise to the Korean Products Promotion Movement (1920) under the slogan "Korean goods for Koreans".