Woori Bank revisits Daehan Cheon-il Bank's history ... “Expanding research into modern financial history”

[Financial News] The process by which Daehan Cheon-il Bank, Woori Bank's predecessor, helped form national capital, as well as the historical value of its accounting ledgers, has been revisited. Together with Kookmin University, Woori Bank reviewed the historical significance of Daehan Cheon-il Bank, founded in 1899, and examined the academic value of Songdo Sagae Chibu-beop, Korea's own double-entry bookkeeping system.
According to financial industry sources on the 8th, Woori Bank held an academic conference with Kookmin University's Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation on the 6th at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. The conference was titled “Research on the Formation of National Capital by Daehan Cheon-il Bank and the Academic Value of Its Accounting Ledgers.”
The conference looked back at the history of Daehan Cheon-il Bank and academically examined the role banks played in the modern financial environment. Daehan Cheon-il Bank was a bank established with national capital in 1899, during the Korean Empire, with merchants and government officials at its core.
The conference was organized around three topics: the formation of the modern national economy and the founding of Daehan Cheon-il Bank; the formation of national capital by Daehan Cheon-il Bank; and the historical significance of the bank's accounting ledgers. Domestic experts in each field presented a total of eight research papers and took an in-depth look at the historical source value of Daehan Cheon-il Bank's accounting ledgers, written using Songdo Sagae Chibu-beop, the unique double-entry bookkeeping system used by Kaesong merchants.
This year, Woori Bank has been conducting academic research in partnership with Kookmin University's Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, drawing on historical records of Daehan Cheon-il Bank held by the bank. It plans to publish a research volume compiling the findings and expand its heritage initiatives, which share the bank's historical assets with the public.
A Woori Bank official said, “We will continue to reexamine the historical significance of finance in South Korea through systematic academic research, share the findings with academia and our customers, and contribute to promoting research on the history of modern finance in Korea.”
Meanwhile, records related to the founding and accounting of Daehan Cheon-il Bank held by Woori Bank were also designated as Nationally Designated Record No. 11 by the National Archives of Korea in 2016.
[email protected] Lee Hyeon-jeong Reporter