Implementation of the Nakdong River Improvement Project by the Choryang Civil Engineering Office in the 1920s and 1930s and its Characteristics

The Nakdong River Improvement Project, part of the larger Joseon River Improvement Initiative, spanned fifteen years and was largely coordinated through irrigation associations, which included lands owned by Japanese and some Korean landlords and capitalists. Despite the project’s ostensible goal of protecting the lives and properties of local residents—including both Koreans and Japanese—from flood risks, it was principally designed to advance the interests of the colonial regime and the landlord-capitalist class. This project showcases the blend of colonial and modern elements in infrastructure development, led and executed under Japanese direction with their technological expertise. The Choryang Civil Engineering Office and related facilities operated within a colonial employment structure, relegating Koreans mostly to unskilled manual labor and minimizing their roles in management or skilled positions. Contractors and suppliers were predominantly Japanese, using non-competitive contracts that largely excluded Korean involvement. Consequently, the main beneficiaries of the hydraulic and irrigation improvements were primarily the landowning classes, specifically Japanese and some Korean landlords and capitalists. The implementation of the Nakdong River Improvement Project catalyzed a multifaceted interplay of interests that extended beyond basic ethnic or socioeconomic dichotomies such as Korean versus Japanese or capitalists versus laborers. Despite this complexity, the execution of the project distinctly embodied the dynamics of colonial power, demonstrating the modern correlation of capital and technology with authority.