Activities of the Weights and Measures under the USAMGIK and Attempts to Establish a Research and Standards

The Weights and Measures Bureau of USAMGIK (United States Army Military Government in Korea) shared the same purpose as its predecessor under the Government-General of Korea, in that it existed to enhance the efficiency of governance and commercial activities. However, the Bureau under USAMGIK pursued a different direction. USAMGIK aimed to transform the Bureau into a new kind of institution by linking it with other related organizations. Unlike its colonial-era counterpart, USAMGIK sought to redefine the Weights and Measures Bureau as an institution of a fundamentally different nature. It attempted to integrate the Bureau with research institutions such as the Central Industrial Research Institute within the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, with the goal of establishing a centralized agency for Research and Standards, modeled after the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in the United States. The envisioned agency was not merely an administrative body managing measuring instruments for commercial and bureaucratic purposes. Rather, it was designed to support Korea’s industrial development, scientific advancement, and technological innovation. Had this effort succeeded, Research and Standards would likely have become Korea’s most essential institution in science and technology. The reasons for the failure to establish the Bureau of Research and Standards remain unclear. However, it is presumed that discontent among other government departments toward the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s leading role in the initiative may have been one of the contributing factors. As a result, Korea’s national standards functions during this period became fragmented. The Central Industrial Research Institute took on the responsibilities of industrial technology guidance and engineering-related affairs. Nevertheless, the activities of the Weights and Measures Bureau under USAMGIK and the attempt to establish the Bureau of Research and Standards, illustrate the efforts to break away from the colonial legacy and to pursue independence in the field of industrial technology policy following liberation. These movements later influenced the formulation of the post-liberation measurement system, industrial and commercial policy, and the establishment of scientific research institutions in the Republic of Korea.