How did Korea build one of the world’s major shipping industries within a few decades after liberation? What roles did colonial legacies, state policy, and maritime entrepreneurship play in this transformation?
This book traces the development of the Korean shipping industry from 1910 to 2010. It challenges the widely held assumption that Japanese colonial rule laid the foundations of modern Korean shipping. Instead, it shows that the industry emerged largely after liberation through the interaction of state promotion, global shipping markets, and the entrepreneurial initiatives of Korean maritime professionals.
It shows how Korean seafarers first entered global shipping through overseas employment and later transformed themselves into shipowners and shipping entrepreneurs. Their experience at sea, international networks, and practical knowledge of maritime transport became a crucial foundation for the growth of national shipping companies.
Drawing on extensive historical records, shipping statistics, government documents, and industry archives, the book reconstructs the formation of Korea’s national shipping system, the rise of maritime entrepreneurship, and the structural transformations brought by globalisation. If you want to understand how a latecomer nation built a global shipping industry, this book offers a new historical perspective on the relationship between state policy, maritime labour, and entrepreneurial initiative.