Introduction of kerosene during the port opening period and formation of distribution structure within Korea

Kerosene began to be used in 1876 with the opening of Korea's ports. Koreans mainly used American kerosene, as the quality of Russian, Indonesian, and Japanese kerosene was not good, resulting in odor and soot. Of course, this was not a significant problem when using lamps with glass covers. However, lamps were expensive, so cheaper kandelaar and traditional lamps were primarily used, and the American kerosene did not cause any issues under such conditions. On the other hand, American merchant Townsend signed a contract with Standard Oil Company in 1897 and exclusively imported American kerosene through the Japanese branch. During this period, China and Japan also received large supplies of Russian and Indonesian kerosene through Shell and Royal Dutch. However, Korea did not have facilities for tankers to dock, so large-scale supplies from these countries could not be achieved. Therefore, in terms of quality and supply scale, they could not surpass the existing American kerosene.